IOWA.  SOCIAL  HISTORY  SERIES? 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


IOWA  SOCIAL  HISTORY  SERIES 

EDITED   BY  BENJAMIN  F.  SHAMBAUGH 


POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 


IOWA  SOCIAL  HISTORY   SERIES 
EDITED   BY  BENJAMIN   P.  SHAMBAUGH 


HISTORY  OF 

POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION 
IN  IOWA 


BY 
JOHN  L.  GILLIN 


PUBLISHED    AT   IOWA    CITY    IOWA   IN    1914   BY 
THE    STATE    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY    OF    IOWA 


THE  TORCH    PRESS 

CEDAR     RAPIDS 

IOWA 


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T 


CO 

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EDITOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

*j  POVERTY  is  such  a  persistent  and  perplexing 
social  problem  and  its  amelioration  through 
government  action  so  difficult  that  it  is  not  sur- 
prising to  learn  that  poor  relief  legislation  and 
administration  in  Iowa  have  not  been  altogether 
successful.  There  is  need  for  new  legislation  and 

"1      more  scientific  methods  of  administration.     But 
<*> 
v      changes  in  the  system  should  be  made  in  the  light 

of  experience  both  in  Iowa  and  in  other  jurisdic- 
tions. 

By  tracing  in  this  volume  the  history  of  poor 

relief  legislation  in  Iowa,  Dr.  Gillin  has  prepared 

the  way  for  that  intensive  study  of  the  actual 

\     workings  of  the  system  which  must  inevitably 

I    guide  changes  both  in  the  law  and  in  its  admin- 

J    istration. 

BENJ.  F.  SHAMBAUGH 

OFFICE  OF  THE  SUPERINTENDENT  AND  EDITOR 

THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

IOWA  CITY  IOWA 


203471 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE 

THE  writer's  purpose  in  the  pages  which  follow  is 
to  present  an  historical  and  analytical  study  of  legis- 
lation for  the  relief  of  the  poor  in  Iowa.  Except 
incidentally,  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  deal  with 
the  administrative  side  of  public  poor  relief.  Such 
a  study  is  much  needed,  however,  for  it  is  only 
through  a  careful  investigation  of  the  actual  work- 
ing of  the  laws  in  the  various  local  areas  that  the 
shortcomings  or  successes  of  poor  relief  legislation 
can  be  fully  determined. 

The  present  study  has  been  divided  into  four 
parts,  the  first  of  which  contains  a  general  historical 
narrative  of  poor  relief  legislation  in  the  States  and 
Territories  from  which  the  early  laws  of  Iowa  were 
inherited,  and  in  Iowa  from  1838  to  1914.  Part  two, 
dealing  with  special  phases  of  poor  relief  legislation 
in  Iowa,  aims  to  point  out  the  part  played  by  differ- 
ent public  officials  and  the  general  methods  employed 
in  poor  relief.  In  part  three  an  effort  has  been  made 
to  summarize  the  methods  employed  by  the  State  in 
caring  for  special  classes  of  dependents,  and  to  show 
to  what  extent  the  principle  of  State  control  of  poor 


x  AUTHOR'S  PREFACE 

relief  has  gained  ground  in  Iowa,  Finally,  part  four 
is  devoted  to  a  summary  of  the  present  system  of 
poor  relief  in  Iowa  and  to  some  changes  which,  in 
the  belief  of  the  writer,  would  bring  the  system  of 
relieving  poverty  more  closely  into  line  with  modern, 
scientific  ideas. 

That  the  present  plan  of  public  poor  relief  in 
Iowa,  which  is  largely  inherited  without  substantial 
change  from  the  laws  of  a  much  earlier  day,  can  be 
improved  and  made  really  serviceable  is  shown  by 
the  experience  of  Indiana  with  a  system  which  until 
recent  years  was  equally  as  primitive.  Furthermore, 
the  need  of  amendments  is  clearly  shown  by  the 
fact  that  since  the  Civil  War  the  law-makers  have 
gradually  been  turning  away  from  attempts  to  im- 
prove the  poorhouse  and  outdoor  systems  of  relief 
to  efforts  to  formulate  preventive  measures  and  con- 
structive laws  for  the  care  of  children  and  other 
special  classes  of  dependents.  Perhaps  it  is  now 
time  that  attention  should  again  be  turned  to  the 
long-established  institutions,  namely  the  poorhouse 
and  outdoor  relief,  with  the  purpose  of  introducing 
scientific  methods. 

The  thanks  of  the  writer  are  due  to  Professor 
Benjamin  F.  Shambaugh,  the  Superintendent  and 
Editor  of  The  State  Historical  Society  of  Iowa, 
whose  encouragement  made  possible  the  preparation 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE  xi 

of  this  monograph;  and  to  Dr.  Dan  E.  Clark,  the 
Assistant  Editor  of  the  Society,  who  has  read  both 
the  manuscript  and  the  proof  and  has  made  many 
helpful  suggestions.  Miss  Ruth  Gallaher  rendered 
assistance  in  verifying  the  notes  and  references. 

JOHN  L.  GILLIN 

STATE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN 
MADISON  WISCONSIN 


CONTENTS 

EDITOR'S  INTRODUCTION vii 

AUTHOR'S  PREFACE ix 

PART  I 
GENERAL  HISTORICAL  NARRATIVE 

I.     POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  THE  NORTH- 
WEST TERRITORY  AND  IN  EARLY  OHIO       .  3 
II.     POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  THE  TERRITORY 

OF  MICHIGAN 20 

III.  POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  THE  TERRITORY 

OF  WISCONSIN 39 

IV.  POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  THE  TERRITORY 

OF  IOWA 44 

V.    A  GENERAL  SURVEY  OF  POOR  RELIEF  LEGIS- 
LATION IN  IOWA  1846-1914        ...          71 

PART  II 

SPECIAL  PHASES  OF  POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION 

IN  IOWA 

VI.     THE  LAW  OF  SETTLEMENT  ....  117 
VII.     COUNTY  RELIEF  OFFICIALS  ....  126 
VIII.     TOWNSHIP  AND  CITY  RELIEF  OFFICIALS        .  144 
IX.     THE  POORHOUSE  IN  IOWA  POOR  RELIEF  LEG- 
ISLATION      157 

X.     OUTDOOR  RELIEF  OF  THE  POOR  IN  IOWA  183 


xiv  CONTENTS 

PART  III 

SPECIAL  CLASSES  OF  DEPENDENTS  AND  STATE 
CONTROL 

XI.     SPECIAL  CLASSES  OF  DEPENDENTS:     NOR- 
MAL CHILDREN 195 

XII.     SPECIAL    CLASSES  OF   DEPENDENTS:     DE- 
FECTIVES          233 

XIII.  SPECIAL  CLASSES  OF  DEPENDENTS:     SOL- 

DIERS, SAILORS,  AND  MARINES        .        .        278 

XIV.  SPECIAL  CLASSES  OF  DEPENDENTS:     THE 

SICK 285 

XV.     SPECIAL   CLASSES  OF   DEPENDENTS:     VA- 
GRANTS    289 

XVI.     SPECIAL    RELIEF    FOR    THE    VICTIMS    OF 

CALAMITY 293 

XVII.     STATE  CONTROL  OF  POOR  RELIEF        .        .  296 

PART  IV 
SUMMARY  AND  SUGGESTIONS 

XVIII.     SUMMARY  OF   THE  PRESENT   SYSTEM   OF 

POOR  RELIEF  IN  IOWA  ....  319 
XIX.     SOME  SUGGESTED  CHANGES  IN  THE  SYS- 
TEM OF  POOR  RELIEF  IN  IOWA        .        .  327 

APPENDIX 337 

NOTES  AND  REFERENCES    ....  343 

INDEX  387 


PART  I 
GENERAL  HISTORICAL  NARRATIVE 


POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  THE  NORTH- 
WEST TERRITORY  AND  IN  EARLY  OHIO 

The  origins  of  the  poor  relief  legislation  of  the 
Territory  of  Iowa  are  to  be  traced  through  the  stat- 
utes of  the  Territories  of  Wisconsin  and  Michigan  to 
the  laws  adopted  by  the  Governor  and  Judges  of  the 
Northwest  Territory.  Hence  it  will  be  necessary  to 
make  a  brief  study  of  the  system  of  poor  relief  estab- 
lished in  the  Old  Northwest.  Moreover,  it  appears 
that  in  1842  the  legislators  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa 
turned  to  the  statutes  of  Ohio  and  adopted,  with  only 
a  few  modifications,  a  poor  relief  law  that  had  been 
in  operation  in  that  State  for  several  years ;  and  so  it 
becomes  equally  necessary  to  examine  the  evolution 
of  the  scheme  of  poor  relief  which  was  transplanted 
from  Ohio  to  Iowa. 

The  first  mention  of  poor  relief  in  the  statutes  of 
the  Northwest  Territory  is  to  be  found  in  the  laws 
adopted  by  the  Governor  and  Judges  in  1790,  three 
years  after  the  establishment  of  the  Territory,  and  it 
occurs  only  as  a  minor  provision  in  an  act  dealing 
primarily  with  the  creation  of  townships  in  the  sev- 
eral counties.  This  act  put  the  administration  of 
poor  relief  into  the  hands  of  one  or  more  overseers 
appointed  for  one  year  by  the  justices  of  the  court  of 


4          POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

general  quarter  sessions.1  These  overseers  were  re- 
quired to  take  an  oath,  of  office  similar  to  that  pre- 
scribed for  the  constable  of  that  day.  They  were 
merely  assistants  to  the  justices  of  the  peace  in  the 
administration  of  poor  relief,  it  being  their  business 
to  report  to  the  justices  any  persons  needing  relief 
and  to  look  into  any  case  brought  to  the  attention  of 
the  justice  and  report  back  to  him.  Thus  the  cen- 
tral figure  in  the  administration  of  relief  was  the 
justice  of  the  peace:  relief  was  a  function  of  the 
court.2 

The  act  of  1790  was  superseded  five  years  later 
by  a  law  which  was  passed  on  June  19, 1795,  and  went 
into  effect  on  October  1st.  It  was  a  lengthy  measure 
of  thirty-two  sections,  adopted  from  the  statutes  of 
Pennsylvania.  It  differed  from  the  former  law  by 
making  the  justices  of  the  peace  merely  the  author- 
ities to  appoint  the  overseers  of  the  poor  in  each 
township  and  to  enforce  the  orders  of  the  overseers. 
The  latter  now  became  the  real  administrators  of 
poor  relief.  They,  not  the  justices,  levied  the  tax. 
They  handed  to  the  justices  the  names  of  those  from 
whom  their  successors  were  to  be  appointed.  They 
had  the  right  to  provide  by  contract  for  the  care  of 
any  poor  person,  and  the  authority  to  expend  the 
money  raised  by  taxes  levied  by  themselves  in  pro- 
viding places  where  the  poor  could  work  on  stocks  of 
hemp,  flax,  thread,  and  other  materials  to  pay  for 
their  support.  It  was  they  who  apprenticed  the  poor 
children  of  the  township.  They  were  declared  to  be 
a  body  politic  and  corporate,  and  were  authorized  to 


THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY  AND  OHIO       5 

receive  grants  and  bequests  for  the  use  of  the  poor. 

This  law  contained  detailed  regulations  concern- 
ing legal  settlement  for  relief  purposes.  It  provided 
for  the  punishment  of  anyone  who  should  bring  into 
the  township  any  person  who  might  become  charge- 
able to  the  relief  agencies,  and  for  the  removal  of  all 
paupers  who  had  no  legal  settlement  in  the  township. 
It  prescribed  rules  concerning  the  liability  of  indi- 
viduals for  the  support  of  their  indigent  relatives, 
and  made  provision  for  the  seizure  and  custody  of 
the  property  of  persons  who  deserted  their  wives 
and  children.  In  a  word,  this  act,  which  was  a  slightly 
modified  copy  of  the  laws  of  Elizabeth,  passed  about 
two  centuries  earlier,  provided  a  fairly  complete  sys- 
tem of  poor  relief.3 

On  December  19,  1799,  a  brief  supplementary  act 
was  passed  which  modified  the  law  of  1795  in  only 
two  particulars.4  It  provided  for  the  farming  out  of 
the  care  of  the  poor  to  the  lowest  bidder  as  the  sole 
method  of  relief,  and  transferred  to  the  county  com- 
missioners the  duties  previously  performed  in  re- 
spect to  poor  relief  by  the  justices  of  the  county  court 
of  quarter  sessions. 

For  six  years  these  provisions  stood  unchanged, 
until  on  February  22,  1805,  the  Third  General  As- 
sembly of  the  new  State  of  Ohio  enacted  a  law 
chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  making  the  previous  laws 
on  the  subject  conform  to  an  act  providing  for  the 
incorporation  of  townships.5  This  act  followed  much 
the  same  lines  as  the  law  of  1795,  but  was  altogether 
simpler  in  its  provisions,  centering  the  ultimate  au- 


6          POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

thority  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  in  the  township 
trustees  rather  than  in  the  county  commissioners. 
While  overseers  of  the  poor  were  in  immediate 
charge  of  the  paupers  in  their  respective  townships, 
they  acted  under  the  direction  of  the  township  trus- 
tees. 

An  act  passed  in  1808  furthered  the  centralization 
of  the  administration  of  poor  relief  in  the  township 
authorities  by  putting  into  the  hands  of  the  trustees, 
rather  than  of  the  electors,  the  power  to  levy  taxes 
" whenever  it  may  be  found  necessary".  This  act 
also  provided  for  the  compensation  of  the  overseers.8 

Two  years  later,  on  February  19,  1810,  an  act  was 
passed  which  codified  the  laws  of  Ohio  relating  to  the 
relief  of  the  poor,  adding  no  new  sections  but  elim- 
inating the  provision  of  the  previous  law  which  re- 
lated to  bequests  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor.7 

On  February  10, 1816,  a  statute  was  enacted  which 
modified  the  existing  laws  on  the  relief  of  the  poor 
in  their  homes  in  a  few  particulars.  It  added  the 
provision  that  in  cases  of  necessity  the  overseers 
might  give  aid  without  securing  an  order  from  the 
township  trustees.  It  omitted  the  former  provision 
that  notice  to  depart  must  be  given  to  any  persons 
coming  into  the  township  within  five  months  after 
their  coming,  in  order  to  prevent  them  from  gaining 
a  legal  settlement.  A  new  clause  gave  to  any  guard- 
ian or  parent  whose  child  was  bound  out  by  the  over- 
seers and  who  felt  aggrieved  by  such  action,  the  right 
of  appealing  to  the  court  of  common  pleas.  The  law 
also  put  definitely  and  completely  into  the  hands  of 


THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY  AND  OHIO       7 

the  township  trustees  the  power  to  levy  the  poor  tax. 
In  short,  it  only  carried  further  the  tendency  to  cen- 
tralize the  administration  of  poor  relief  in  the  hands 
of  the  township  trustees  and  their  subordinates,  the 
overseers  of  the  poor.8 

It  was  in  this  same  year,  however,  and  but  a  fort- 
night later,  on  February  26,  1816,  that  a  law  was 
passed  which  was  evidently  intended  to  change -the 
whole  method  of  poor  relief.9  The  change  aimed  to 
provide  for  the  care  of  the  poor  entirely  within  a 
poorhouse.  For  about  eleven  years  this  method  was 
tried ;  but  when  it  failed  to  meet  the  approbation  of 
the  public  the  mixed  system  of  having  both  outdoor 
and  indoor  relief  was  settled  upon  as  the  policy  of 
the  State.10  Of  the  legislation  concerning  relief  in  a 
poorhouse  more  will  be  said  later. 

In  spite  of  the  avowed  intention  of  changing  the 
method  of  relief,  the  old  laws  continued  upon  the 
statute  books  of  Ohio,  for  the  purpose  of  providing 
for  those  counties  and  townships  which  did  not  erect 
poorhouses  pursuant  to  the  provisions  of  the  new 
law.  Moreover,  the  laws  relating  to  the  temporary 
relief  of  the  poor  in  their  homes  and  to  the  farming 
out  of  the  care  of  the  poor  in  counties  having  no 
poorhouses  were  not  tampered  with  during  the 
period  from  1816  to  1829  when  Ohio  was  trying  the 
experiment  of  having  each  county  or  township  build 
a  poorhouse  and  care  for  its  poor  in  that  way.  On 
February  12,  1829,  the  law  of  1816  was  amended  by 
making  the  time  of  residence  necessary  to  gain  a  le- 
gal settlement  for  purposes  of  poor  relief  three  years 


8          POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

instead  of  one,  and  by  providing  that  no  black  or 
mulatto  could  ever  gain  a  legal  settlement.11  On 
March  14,  1831,  however,  an  act  was  passed  which 
changed  the  time  necessary  for  securing  a  settlement 
from  three  years  back  to  one  year  —  although  three 
years  remained  the  period  of  continuous  residence  in 
a  place  required  to  gain  a  legal  settlement  after  once 
being  warned  to  depart.12 

This  law  frankly  recognized  the  fact  that  the  plan 
to  have  all  the  poor  cared  for  in  poorhouses  had 
failed  of  realization.  Many  of  the  counties  and  town- 
ships had  not  built  poorhouses.  Accordingly,  since 
the  provision  of  the  law  which  permitted  townships 
to  build  poorhouses  in  counties  having  none  had  been 
repealed,  the  new  law  explicitly  permitted  that  the 
care  of  the  poor  in  any  township  of  a  county  not  hav- 
ing a  poorhouse  might  be  farmed  out,  but  that  no 
contract  of  this  kind  should  be  made  for  more  than 
a  year.  This  method  was  also  open  to  a  township  in 
a  county  having  a  poorhouse  in  case  any  poor  person 
had  been  rejected  by  the  board  of  directors  of  the 
poorhouse.  This  act  also  provided  for  the  temporary 
care  of  casual  paupers  who  had  no  legal  settlement, 
without  all  the  complicated  processes  prescribed  by 
previous  acts. 

Ohio  had  no  specific  provision  for  poorhouses  until 
February  26,  1816,  although  in  the  law  adopted  by 
the  Governor  and  Judges  of  the  Northwest  Territory 
on  June  19, 1795,  there  was  a  section  which  provided 
that  the  overseers  of  the  poor  in  a  township,  with  the 
approbation  of  any  two  justices  of  the  peace  of  the 


THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY  AND  OHIO       9 

county,  could  levy  a  tax '  *  for  the  support  of  the  poor ; 
to  be  employed  in  providing  proper  houses  and 
places,  and  a  convenient  stock  of  hemp,  flax,  thread 
and  other  ware  and  stuff,  for  setting  to  work  such 
poor  persons,  as  apply  for  relief,  and  are  capable  of 
working".13  Evidently  this  law  contemplated  a  kind 
of  workhouse  or  poorhouse.  There  is  no  evidence, 
however,  that  this  plan  was  actually  followed  to  any 
considerable  extent. 

The  law  of  1816  was  a  very  comprehensive  act  but 
its  importance  in  this  connection  lies  in  the  fact  that 
the  first  five  sections  served  as  the  model  for  the 
poorhouse  law  adopted  fourteen  years  later  by  the 
Territory  of  Michigan ;  and  the  Michigan  statute,  in 
turn,  had  many  features  in  common  with  the  first  act 
adopted  by  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin  —  an  act 
which  was  almost  literally  adopted  as  the  first  poor 
law  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa.  Moreover,  it  was  the 
Michigan  law  of  1830  which  was  in  force  when  the 
Iowa  country  came  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Ter- 
ritory of  Michigan  in  1834. 

The  chief  feature  of  the  Ohio  law  of  1816  was  the 
authority  given  to  the  county  commissioners  to  erect 
and  establish  poorhouses  whenever  they  considered 
such  institutions  necessary  or  advantageous.  They 
had  power  to  buy  land  and  levy  taxes  for  that  specific 
purpose.  The  direct  management  of  the  poorhouses 
thus  established  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  board 
of  seven  directors  appointed  by  the  county  commis- 
sioners, which  board  was  declared  to  be  a  body  politic 
and  corporate  with  all  the  powers  of  such  a  body. 


10        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

It  appointed  a  superintendent  to  reside  in  or  near 
the  poorhouse  and  to  have  immediate  management 
under  the  regulations  laid  down  by  the  board  of  di- 
rectors. The  law  contained  many  of  the  features  -now 
to  be  found  in  the  laws  relating  to  the  management  of 
poorhouses,  such  as  forbidding  the  superintendent  to 
admit  any  one  to  the  poorhouse  without  an  order 
from  the  proper  authorities,  and  requiring  that  he 
should  keep  a  book  in  which  the  names  of  all  persons 
admitted  were  to  be  recorded.  The  directors  were  to 
see  that  the  poorhouse  was  visited  at  least  once  a 
month  by  a  committee  from  their  body.  Each  year 
the  board  was  to  make  a  report  to  the  county  commis- 
sioners concerning  the  condition  of  the  institution. 

Moreover,  provision  was  made  for  the  establish- 
ment of  township  poorhouses  in  such  counties  as  had 
established  no  county  poorhouses  under  this  act,  pro- 
vided a  majority  of  the  legal  voters  of  the  township 
favored  such  procedure.  In  such  cases,  if  the  county 
should  afterwards  build  a  county  poorhouse,  the 
township  in  question  would  not  be  liable  for  any  of 
the  necessary  expense  either  of  building  or  support- 
ing the  county  institution  —  a  provision  so  framed 
that  every  inducement  was  put  upon  the  county  to 
build  a  poorhouse.  In  case  the  township  built  the 
poorhouse,  it  was  to  be  under  the  control  of  a  board 
of  three  directors,  who  were  to  be  elected  by  the 
voters  of  the  township  and  make  their  reports  to  the 
township  trustees.  They  were  to  appoint  a  superin- 
tendent of  the  poorhouse  who  was  to  proceed  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  superintendent  of  the  county 


THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY  AND  OHIO     11 

poorhouse.  Finally,  this  act  released  the  county  and 
township  overseers  of  the  poor  of  so  much  of  their 
duties  as  related  to  the  care  of  the  poor  in  any  county 
or  township  where  poorhouses  had  been  established 
as  contemplated  by  this  law.  Manifestly  the  aim  of 
the  law  was  to  do  away  ultimately  with  all  relief  of 
the  poor  outside  of  the  poorhouse.1* 

For  over  ten  years  the  law  relating  to  the  relief  of 
the  poor  in  poorhouses  was  unchanged.  On  January 
28, 1827,  however,  an  act  was  passed  which  changed 
the  number  of  directors  of  county  poorhouses  from 
seven  to  three,  added  the  requirement  of  an  oath  of 
office  for  these  officials,  and  empowered  the  county 
commissioners  to  fill  any  vacancies  in  the  board  of  di- 
rectors.15 It  gave  the  directors  power  to  bind  out  as 
apprentices  all  poor  children  in  the  poorhouse,  a  pow- 
er which  under  the  system  of  farming  out  the  poor 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  township  trustees  or  of  the 
township  overseers  of  the  poor.  Moreover,  this  act 
vested  in  the  directors  of  the  poorhouse  the  authority 
to  hold  for  the  use  of  the  poor  of  the  county  all  per- 
sonal property  which  had  escheated  to  the  State  from 
persons  dying  without  heirs,  and  the  care  of  which 
property  had  been  vested  in  the  overseers  of  the  poor 
of  the  township  '  *  agreeably  to  the  fourteenth  section 
of  the  '  act  regulating  the  course  of  descents  and  dis- 
tribution of  personal  estates. '  ' '  This  provision  was 
evidently  made  in  the  effort  to  bring  the  whole  sys- 
tem into  line  with  the  policy  of  relief  in  the  poor- 
house alone. 

The  law  passed  on  January  19,  1829,  further  con- 


12        POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

centrated  the  care  of  the  poor  in  the  hands  of  the 
directors  of  the  county  poorhouse,16  who  were  now  to 
give  orders  upon  the  county  auditor  for  the  payment 
of  any  expenses  incurred  in  bringing  the  pauper  to 
the  poorhouse  or  in  keeping  him  while  his  case  was 
being  investigated.  They,  not  the  township  trustees 
or  the  overseers  of  the  poor,  were  the  ultimate  au- 
thorities to  decide  whether  or  not  a  person  was  to  be 
admitted  to  the  poorhouse.  All  the  authority  hitherto 
vested  in  the  overseers  of  the  poor  to  investigate  the 
cases  of  those  who  might  not  be  legal  residents  of  the 
State  and  to  remove  them  now  passed  into  the  hands 
of  the  directors  of  the  poorhouse.  The  relief  of  even 
those  indigent  persons  who  were  in  too  precarious 
health  to  be  removed  to  the  poorhouse  was  placed  in 
the  hands  of  the  directors.  Thus,  the  tendency  in  the 
legislation  of  Ohio  was  to  concentrate  authority  in 
the  hands  of  the  directors  of  the  county  poorhouse, 
and  to  provide  entirely  for  the  care  of  the  poor 
through  the  authorities  of  that  institution. 

The  last  Ohio  law  dealing  with  the  care  of  the  poor 
by  means  of  the  poorhouse  which  comes  within  the 
scope  of  this  discussion  was  passed  on  March  8, 
1831.17  It  was  simply  a  codification  of  the  laws 
passed  since  1816,  with  some  modifications  based  on 
the  experience  of  the  previous  fifteen  years.  The 
only  changes  made  in  the  existing  laws  were  the  elim- 
ination of  the  provision  of  the  law  of  1816  giving  the 
townships  the  power  to  erect  poorhouses  if  the 
county  commissioners  failed  to  do  so,  and  the  inser- 
tion of  a  provision  that  the  superintendent  should 


admit  no  one  to  the  poorhouse  except  upon  the  order 
of  a  member  of  the  board  of  directors,  instead  of  the 
previous  rule  that  such  an  order  must  be  signed  by 
the  president  of  that  board.  This  act  is  of  special 
interest  in  this  study  because  it  was  adopted  as  the 
second  poorhouse  law  enacted  by  the  legislature  of 
the  Territory  of  Iowa. 

In  1834  a  minor  amendment  was  made  to  this  act, 
providing  for  the  care  of  a  needy  person  in  the  poor- 
house even  though  he  were  not  a  legal  resident  of  the 
county.18  This  modification  was  made  necessary  by 
reason  of  the  fact  that  outdoor  relief  had  been  dis- 
carded for  relief  in  the  poorhouse,  and  there  was 
need  of  some  method  of  caring  for  transients  and 
non-residents. 

A  review  of  the  course  of  development  in  the  poor 
relief  legislation  of  the  Northwest  Territory  and 
Ohio  from  the  beginning  down  to  the  year  1834  re- 
veals many  changes.  From  being  merely  a  section 
in  a  law  primarily  concerning  other  subjects,  the 
poor  relief  legislation  had  become  a  highly  developed 
series  of  laws  dealing  only  with  the  subject  of  the  re- 
lief of  poverty. 

During  this  period  of  forty-four  years  two  differ- 
ent methods  of  relieving  the  poor  had  developed: 
the  old  method  of  ' 'farming  out"  the  care  of  the 
poor,  which  continued  throughout  this  period;  and, 
after  1816,  the  new  and  alternative  method  of  relief 
by  means  of  the  poorhouse.  During  these  years  there 
had  also  arisen  the  method  of  supplying  temporary 


14        POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

relief  to  people  in  their  homes,  a  method  which  was 
destined  later  to  assume  an  importance  undreamed 
of  at  its  inception. 

In  the  beginning  the  primary  authorities  for  the 
relief  of  the  needy  were  the  justices  of  the  peace,  as 
in  the  acts  of  1790  and  1795.  Later  these  authorities 
gave  way  to  the  county  commissioners,  as  in  the  act 
of  1799.  In  1805  these  officials  in  turn  were  super- 
seded by  the  township  trustees,  who  in  1808  took  the 
place  of  the  electors  of  the  township  in  voting  the 
taxes  necessary  for  the  relief  of  the  poor.  The  legis- 
lation of  1816  left  the  township  trustees  as  the  pri- 
mary authorities  in  charge  of  the  care  of  the  poor 
in  those  counties  in  which  there  were  no  county  poor- 
houses,  but  put  into  the  hands  of  the  county  commis- 
sioners the  care  of  the  poor  where  county  poorhouses 
had  been  established. 

The  overseers  of  the  poor  in  the  townships  were 
never  the  primary  authorities  for  the  relief  of  pov- 
erty during  this  period.  They  came  nearest  to  the  at- 
tainment of  that  position  by  the  act  of  1799,  but  even 
then  they  were  required  to  report  to  the  county  com- 
missioners the  amounts  which  they  had  contracted  to 
pay  for  the  care  of  the  poor;  while  the  county  com- 
missioners were  empowered  to  levy  the  necessary 
taxes.  Usually  the  overseers  were  simply  the  sec- 
ondary authorities  immediately  in  charge  of  the  ad- 
ministration, but  under  the  control  of  the  justices  of 
the  peace,  as  in  the  laws  of  1790  and  1795,  or  of  the 
county  commissioners,  as  in  the  act  of  1799,  or  of  the 


THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY  AND  OHIO     15 

township  trustees,  as  in  the  laws  of  1805,  1808,  and 
1816. 

In  1831  once  more  the  overseers  of  the  poor  be- 
came almost  independent  of  the  township  trustees  in 
their  care  of  those  persons  who  required  temporary 
relief,  in  farming  out  the  care  of  those  persons  who 
must  be  cared  for  in  counties  having  no  poorhouses, 
and  in  investigating  the  cases  of  those  paupers  sus- 
pected of  not  having  a  legal  settlement  in  their  town- 
ship. In  removing  such  paupers  to  their  last  place 
of  legal  settlement,  however,  the  overseers  were  to 
proceed  under  the  orders  of  the  township  trustees. 
By  the  act  of  1834,  their  control  over  those  needing 
temporary  relief  was  taken  from  them  and  they  were 
required  to  remove  all  such  persons  to  the  county 
poorhouse,  if  there  was  one,  under  the  orders  of  the 
township  trustees.  Moreover,  by  the  acts  of  1831, 
many  of  the  powers  of  the  overseers  were  taken  from 
them  and  vested  in  the  directors  of  the  poorhouse. 

At  the  close  of  the  period  under  review,  therefore, 
there  were  four  sets  of  authorities  having  to  do  with 
persons  cared  for  in  the  county  poorhouses:  the 
county  commissioners,  the  board  of  directors,  a  su- 
perintendent, and  the  overseers  of  the  poor.  Fur- 
thermore, there  were  two  sets  of  authorities,  namely, 
the  township  trustees  and  the  overseers  of  the  poor, 
in  charge  of  the  poor  in  counties  having  no  poor- 
houses, of  such  persons  as  needed  temporary  relief, 
of  those  who  must  be  farmed  out,  and  of  those  who 
were  refused  care  by  the  authorities  of  the  poor- 
houses for  any  reason. 


16        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

In  the  terms  of  legal  settlement  there  was  not  so 
much  variation:  the  chief  changes  were  from  one 
year's  residence,  as  in  the  acts  of  1795,  1805,  1810, 
and  1816,  to  three  years,  as  in  the  law  of  1829,  and 
back  to  one  year  again,  as  in  the  act  of  1831,  except  in 
the  case  of  indented  servants  or  apprentices.  By  the 
act  of  1829  it  was  provided  that  no  mulatto  or  black 
person  could  ever  gain  a  legal  settlement  in  Ohio. 
This  provision  continued  throughout  the  period,  and 
is  to  be  found  in  the  laws  of  Iowa  from  1842  to  1864. 
The  only  law  requiring  more  than  a  mere  residence 
for  a  certain  length  of  time  within  a  township  was  the 
act  of  1795,  borrowed  from  Pennsylvania,  which  re- 
quired service  in  public  office  for  one  year,  the  pay- 
ment for  two  successive  years  of  taxes  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  poor,  or  a  leasehold  of  lands  or  tenements 
and  residence  therein  for  one  year  —  provisions 
which  bear  the  ear-marks  of  their  English  origin. 
There  was  an  exception  to  this  rule  in  the  case  of 
indented  servants  and  apprentices,  who  obtained  a 
legal  settlement  by  residence  of  one  year  in  service, 
and  in  the  case  of  a  married  woman  whose  husband 
had  established  a  legal  settlement. 

The  treatment  of  those  who  had  no  legal  settle- 
ment varied  from  detailed  provisions  for  their  re- 
moval, most  elaborate  in  the  act  of  1795,  to  simply 
warning  them  to  depart  but  allowing  them  to  remain, 
providing  they  furnished  bonds  to  indemnify  the 
county  or  township  in  case  they  became  dependent, 
as  in  the  law  of  1816,  or  to  giving  temporary  relief, 
as  in  the  acts  of  1829  and  1831. 


THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY  AND  OHIO     17 

In  only  one  act  of  this  period,  that  of  1831,  was 
there  provision  for  discharge  from  the  poorhouse, 
and  then  only  in  the  case  of  those  who  were  in  the 
poorhouse  because  of  bodily  infirmity.  When  such 
persons  had  recovered  from  their  illness  they  were 
to  be  discharged  by  the  superintendent  upon  the  or- 
der of  the  board  of  directors. 

The  power  to  levy  taxes  for  the  relief  of  the  poor 
varied  with  the  changes  in  the  law  relative  to  the  pri- 
mary poor  relief  authorities.  In  the  law  of  1795  the 
township  overseers  of  the  poor,  with  the  approba- 
tion of  any  two  justices  of  the  peace  of  the  county, 
performed  this  function.  By  the  act  of  1799  the  over- 
seers were  required  to  make  an  estimate  of  the 
money  needed,  whereupon  the  county  commissioners 
levied  the  necessary  tax.  The  act  of  1805  authorized 
the  township,  presumably  the  electors,  to  levy  the 
tax.  In  1808  this  power  was  given  to  the  township 
trustees,  a  provision  which  was  retained  in  the  acts 
of  1810  and  1816.  In  1829  the  county  commissioners 
became  the  tax-levying  authorities,  and  they  contin- 
ued to  perform  this  function  to  the  end  of  the  period 
under  discussion. 

The  requirement  that  relatives  should  support 
paupers  when  able  to  do  so,  came  into  the  laws  of  the 
Northwest  Territory  in  1795  with  the  statute  adopted 
from  Pennsylvania.  The  father  and  grandfather, 
mother  and  grandmother,  and  the  children  of  paupers 
were  held  chargeable  according  to  this  law  —  a  pro- 
vision which  was  not  repeated  in  any  other  law 
adopted  in  Ohio  before  1834. 


18        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

The  provision  for  the  binding  out  of  pauper  chil- 
dren first  appeared  in  the  law  of  1795.  In  this  law 
and  in  the  acts  of  1805  and  1816  the  overseers  of  the 
poor  in  each  township,  with  the  approbation  of  two 
justices  of  the  peace  of  the  county,  were  authorized 
to  apprentice  destitute  children.  After  1827,  how- 
ever, this  power  resided  in  the  directors  of  the  poor- 
house  in  townships  having  such  an  institution. 

Up  to  1816  the  prevailing  method  of  caring  for  the 
poor  was  by  farming  them  out  to  the  lowest  bidder, 
but  in  that  year  a  law  was  passed  making  specific 
provision  for  poorhouses.  From  that  date  through- 
out this  period  there  were  in  existence  two  methods 
of  caring  for  the  poor.  In  those  counties  which  had 
poorhouses,  it  was  intended  that  paupers  should  be 
cared  for  in  those  institutions.  In  counties  which  had 
not  established  poorhouses,  the  poor  were  still 
farmed  out,  although  from  1816  to  1827  it  was  clearly 
the  intent  of  the  law-makers  that  the  poorhouse 
should  supplant  all  other  methods  of  relief  for  the 
poor.  After  an  experience  of  eleven  years,  however, 
many  of  the  counties  still  had  no  poorhouses,  and  the 
laws  give  evidence  that  the  law-makers  had  come  to 
recognize  that  some  counties  would  not  build  them. 
Accordingly  further  provision  was  made  for  the  care 
of  the  poor  by  the  old  method,  and  for  the  care  of 
those  temporarily  in  need  of  relief  in  their  homes. 

Throughout  this  period  the  poorhouse  was  gov- 
erned by  a  board  of  directors  appointed  by  the  coun- 
ty commissioners,  and  was  managed  by  a  superin- 
tendent appointed  by  the  board  of  directors. 


THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY  AND  OHIO     19 

These  laws  of  the  Northwest  Territory  and  of 
Ohio  have  been  reviewed  thus  fully  because  they  not 
only  served  as  models  so  often  in  the  Territories  of 
which  the  Iowa  country  was  later  a  part,  but  for  cer- 
tain laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa  as  well.  It  is  in- 
teresting to  note  what  a  great  influence  the  early 
poor  laws  of  Ohio  had  upon  similar  legislation  in  the 
Territories  and  States  hewn  out  of  the  Old  North- 
west and  the  newer  domain  of  Louisiana.  It  is  not 
remarkable,  however,  that  Ohio  had  such  an  influence 
on  legislation  when  one  remembers  that  that  State, 
together  with  the  Northwest  Territory,  had  experi- 
mented with  almost  every  possible  system.  By  rea- 
son of  that  fact  the  early  statute  books  of  Ohio  con- 
stituted a  rich  source  of  legislation  for  new  Terri- 
tories and  Commonwealths.  Almost  any  kind  of  a 
law  could  be  found  therein.  Doubtless  also  the  fre- 
quent transplanting  of  Ohio  legislation  was  due  in 
part  to  the  fact  that  the  laws  of  that  State  were  at 
hand  in  convenient  form  for  ready  reference  in 
Chase's  Statutes  of  Ohio,  and  to  the  equally  im- 
portant fact  that  many  of  the  early  law-makers  of 
the  Territories  of  the  Middle  West  were  men  who 
had  come  from  Ohio  or  had  come  under  the  influence 
of  Ohio  law. 


II 

POOE  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  THE  TERRI- 
TORY OF  MICHIGAN 

The  Governor  and  Judges  of  the  Northwest  Ter- 
ritory were  given  authority  by  the  Ordinance  of  1787 
to  enact  laws  borrowed  from  the  original  States  until 
such  time  as  a  Territorial  legislature  should  be  elect- 
ed. This  provision  was  repeated  in  the  Organic  Act 
creating  the  Territory  of  Indiana,  and  in  the  later 
act  creating  the  Territory  of  Michigan.19  Accord- 
ingly, until  1823  the  Governor  and  Judges  of  Michi- 
gan were  the  law-makers,  and  the  laws  were  adapta- 
tions of  statutes  from  the  various  States.20  It  was 
but  natural,  therefore,  that  many  of  the  laws  of  the 
Territory  of  Michigan  should  be  borrowed  from 
Ohio. 

During  the  history  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan 
before  1834,  the  year  in  which  Michigan's  jurisdic- 
tion was  extended  over  the  Iowa  country,  eleven  acts 
affecting  the  relief  of  the  poor  were  passed.  Between 
that  date  and  July  4,  1836,  when  the  Territory  of 
Wisconsin  was  organized,  there  was  enacted  but  one 
law  touching  upon  the  subject  of  poor  relief,  namely, 
the  act  of  March  7,  1834,  relating  to  the  care  of  in- 
sane paupers.  Of  the  eleven  acts  above  mentioned, 
four  were  amendatory  of  laws  already  existing. 

20 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  MICHIGAN  21 

These  were  the  laws  of  1824,  1825,  1829,  and  1831. 
The  acts  of  1827  and  1833  were  practically  alike  with 
the  exception  of  a  change  in  the  name  of  the  township 
relief  officials  from  " overseers  of  the  poor"  to  " di- 
rectors of  the  poor",  and  except  that  the  latter  act 
incorporated  several  sections  from  the  law  of  1830, 
providing  for  poorhouses.  Two  other  laws,  those  of 
1817  and  1820,  resemble  each  other  with  the  sole  ex- 
ception of  the  name  of  the  relief  authorities.  In  the 
one  case  they  are  the  justices  of  the  peace  in  the 
county,  and  in  the  other  they  are  the  county  commis- 
sioners. The  essential  features  of  the  law  of  1830 
were  incorporated  in  the  act  of  1833 ;  and  the  act  of 
March  7,  1834,  pertained  solely  to  the  care  of  insane 
paupers. 

Thus  it  appears  that  only  five  radically  different 
poor  laws  were  enacted  in  the  Territory  of  Michigan ; 
the  acts  of  1805,  1809, 1817, 1827,  and  1830.  The  act 
of  1833  was  a  codification  of  all  the  existing  laws  on 
the  subject  of  poor  relief.  The  laws  of  1817  and  1820 
were  peculiar  in  that  they  both  repealed  the  law  of 
1805,  while  neither  of  them  repealed  the  act  of  1809. 
In  fact  the  latter  law  was  not  repealed  in  any  of  these 
subsequent  acts  by  specific  mention.  Another  of 
these  laws,  that  of  1827,  was  enacted  to  expire  by  its 
own  limitations  in  1829,  but  by  an  act  of  1829  it  was 
continued  in  full  force,  except  in  certain  provisions. 

Characteristic  of  the  first  poor  law  of  the  Terri- 
tory of  Michigan,  adopted  in  1805  from  the  statutes 
of  New  Jersey,  were  the  unit  of  relief  (the  Terri- 
tory) ;  the  primary  relief  authorities  (the  justices  of 


22        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

the  peace) ;  the  legal  method  of  calling  the  attention 
of  the  justices  of  the  peace  to  the  needy  person  (by 
means  of  a  written  statement) ;  and  the  method  of 
caring  for  the  poor  (by  contract  to  the  lowest  bid- 
der, let  by  the  Marshal  of  the  Territory).21  The  act 
of  1809,  borrowed  from  Vermont,  was  marked  by  the 
introduction  of  terms  of  settlement;  penalties  for 
bringing  into  the  Territory  paupers  or  those  likely 
to  become  such ;  the  change  of  unit  of  relief  from  the 
Territory  to  the  district ;  complicated  regulations  for 
the  removal  of  those  paupers  who  had  no  legal  settle- 
ment and  for  the  recovery  of  the  costs  of  the  tem- 
porary relief  of  such  persons;  the  introduction  of 
relief  authorities  called  " overseers  of  the  poor",  to- 
gether with  detailed  provisions  for  the  keeping,  aud- 
iting, and  settling  of  their  accounts ;  and  penalties  to 
enforce  the  service  of  those  elected  to  the  office  of 
overseer.22  The  law  of  1817,  adopted  from  Ohio,  is 
characterized  by  the  unit  of  relief  (the  county) ;  the 
primary  relief  authorities  (the  court  of  general  quar- 
ter sessions  of  the  peace  of  the  county) ;  the  second- 
ary authority  (the  sheriff,  who  let  all  contracts  for 
the  care  of  the  poor) ;  provisions  for  a  proper  carry- 
ing out  of  the  contracts ;  and  the  introduction  of  the 
policy  of  binding  out  pauper  children  to  service  until 
they  reached  their  majority.23 

The  law  of  1827,  adopted  from  the  laws  of  Ohio, 
differed  from  those  which  preceded  it  in  containing 
more  detailed  provisions  concerning  settlement  and 
the  removal  of  those  who  had  no  legal  settlement ;  by 
the  introduction  of  a  section  relative  to  the  support 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  MICHIGAN  23 

of  paupers  by  relatives,  and  desertion  on  the  part  of 
natural  supporters ;  by  changing  the  unit  of  relief  to 
the  township,  thus  introducing  the  principle  of  the 
mixed  township  and  county  system  of  relief ;  by  pro- 
viding a  complicated  system  of  mixed  control  over 
the  money  necessary  to  support  the  poor  (a  control 
shared  in  by  the  freeholders  of  the  township  and  the 
county  supervisors) ;  by  including  no  provision  for 
the  binding  out  of  pauper  children;  and  by  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  section  concerning  the  removal  of 
slaves  who  had  run  away  from  their  masters.24 

In  addition  to  these  laws,  which  were  of  primary 
importance,  mention  should  be  made  of  certain  minor 
acts  in  order  to  make  clear  the  course  of  develop- 
ment. By  an  act  adopted  from  Ohio  on  May  30, 1818, 
the  courts  of  general  quarter  sessions  of  the  peace 
were  abolished  and  their  powers  and  duties  vested  in 
the  boards  of  county  commissioners.25  In  accordance 
with  this  change  the  existing  poor  law  was  modified 
by  an  act  of  April  6,  1820.26 

An  act  of  July  17, 1824,  amended  the  existing  laws 
by  requiring  the  county  commissioners  to  make  the 
contracts  for  caring  for  paupers,  or  to  provide  tem- 
porary care  for  such  as  needed  it,  instead  of  dele- 
gating that  power  to  the  sheriff  as  their  representa- 
tive in  the  premises.27 

An  amendatory  act  of  1825  introduced  a  number  of 
new  features.  It  was  the  first  important  statute  rel- 
ative to  poor  relief  passed  in  Michigan  after  that 
Territory  had  passed  into  the  second  stage  of  Terri- 
torial government,  when  the  laws  were  no  longer 


24        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

passed  by  the  Governor  and  Judges  but  by  the  Gov- 
ernor and  the  Legislative  Council.  This  law  provided 
that  no  one  should  be  supported  as  a  pauper  who  was 
not  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  or  who  had  not  re- 
sided in  the  Territory  at  the  time  of  its  surrender  by 
the  British  authorities  in  accordance  with  the  Treaty 
of  London  of  November  19,  1794.  Furthermore,  it 
contained  a  clause  providing  for  support  of  paupers 
by  relatives  —  parents,  grandparents,  grandchildren, 
brothers,  and  sisters  who  were  of  sufficient  ability  — 
up  to  a  maximum  of  $2.50  a  week  for  each  pauper. 
A  residence  of  three  years  previous  to  application 
for  support  was  required ;  and  the  provisions  relative 
to  legal  settlement  were  very  strict.  Settlement  for 
the  purposes  of  poor  relief  was  limited  to  bona  fide 
renters  of  a  tenement  of  a  yearly  rental  value  of 
thirty  dollars  or  more  actually  paid,  or  to  freeholders 
of  an  estate  valued  at  not  less  than  one  hundred  dol- 
lars, or  to  holders  of  a  public  office  for  at  least  one 
year,  or  to  apprentices  of  at  least  two  years'  stand- 
ing. A  legal  settlement  could  be  established  by  these 
parties  only  on  the  condition  that  they  had  not  been 
warned  by  the  county  commissioners  to  depart  within 
three  years  from  the  time  of  their  coming  to  the  Ter- 
ritory. The  act  also  incorporated  the  provisions  of 
the  amendment  of  1824.28 

On  October  29, 1829,  an  act  was  passed  which  pro- 
vided for  a  board  of  five  directors  and  a  township 
treasurer  to  administer  the  poor  relief  in  the  town- 
ship 2fl  —  a  provision  which  was  changed  by  the  act  of 
February  26,  1831,  substituting  a  single  director,80 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  MICHIGAN  25 

and  modified  again  by  the  act  of  April  17, 1833,  which 
provided  for  two  directors  of  the  poor.31  Aside  from 
some  minor  details  the  act  of  1829  provided  princi- 
pally for  the  farming  out  of  the  care  of  the  poor  by 
the  directors,  gave  them  power  to  lay  down  rules  for 
the  government  of  the  contractor,  directed  that  the 
taxes  for  the  carrying  out  of  the  provisions  of  the 
law  should  be  collected  by  the  township  treasurer, 
transferred  the  duties  of  the  former  overseers  of  the 
poor  to  the  directors,  and  provided  for  the  building 
of  a  township  poorhouse  by  the  board  of  directors 
with  the  approbation  and  consent  of  a  majority  of 
the  householders  of  the  township.  The  poor  were  to 
be  cared  for  exclusively  in  the  poorhouse  wherever 
one  was  built.  The  chief  features  of  all  these  amend- 
atory acts  were  included  in  the  important  laws  later 
enacted,  especially  in  the  act  of  1833. 

The  act  of  July  22,  1830,  copied  almost  verbatim 
from  the  Ohio  law  of  February  26, 1816,  was  the  first 
law  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan  devoted  entirely  to 
the  subject  of  poorhouses.32  According  to  the  pro- 
visions of  this  law  the  erection  of  poorhouses,  as  had 
been  the.  case  under  the  Ohio  law,  was  made  optional 
with  the  board  of  supervisors.  The  maximum 
amount  of  land  to  be  used  for  such  purposes  was 
limited  to  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  —  a  provision 
not  found  in  the  Ohio  act.  There  was  to  be  a  board 
of  directors  composed  of  not  less  than  three  or  more 
than  seven  discreet  persons  to  manage  the  institu- 
tion, as  compared  with  a  board  of  seven  directors 
in  Ohio.  Another  new  feature  was  the  provision 


26        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

that  each  township  should  share  in  the  cost  of  main- 
taining the  county  poorhouse  according  to  the  num- 
ber of  paupers  which  that  township  contributed  to 
the  whole  number  therein.  Moreover,  those  sections 
of  the  Ohio  law  which  related  to  the  establishment 
and  maintenance  of  township  poorhouses  were 
omitted. 

The  law  of  April  22, 1833,  stands  out  preeminently 
in  Michigan's  legislation  on  poor  relief  by  reason  of 
its  comprehensiveness.  It  embraced  practically  all 
the  legislation  on  this  subject  which  had  been  enact- 
ed up  to  the  time  it  was  passed  and  which  remained 
unrepealed,  but  it  contained  no  new  provisions. 

In  this  law  there  was  incorporated  the  provision 
of  the  amendatory  act  of  1829  to  the  effect  that  any 
poor  person  who  had  not  a  residence  in  the  township 
was  to  be  maintained  by  the  county.  It  ignored, 
however,  many  of  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  1829, 
and  went  back  in  almost  every  detail  to  the  act  of 
1827.  At  the  same  time  it  omitted  the  section  of  the 
latter  act  relating  to  the  support  of  paupers  by  rela- 
tives. Instead  of  incorporating  the  changes  in  the 
definition  of  the  poor  relief  authorities  made  by  the 
acts  of  1829  and  1831,  it  provided  for  two  township 
directors  of  the  poor  according  to  the  act  passed  on 
April  17, 1833.  With  a  few  minor  changes,  it  incor- 
porated the  section  of  the  act  of  1829  providing  for 
the  binding  out  of  pauper  children  as  apprentices. 
Again,  it  provided  for  poorhouses  on  the  basis  of  the 
law  of  1830,  but  modified  that  act  in  accordance  with 
the  change  made  by  the  act  of  March  12, 1833,  giving 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  MICHIGAN  27 

the  control  of  the  poorhouse  to  the  board  of  super- 
visors themselves  rather  than  to  a  board  of  directors 
named  by  the  supervisors.  Finally,  the  act  of  1833 
retained  the  township  basis  of  support  for  the  county 
poorhouse  as  provided  in  the  act  of  1830.  In  short, 
as  has  already  been  stated,  it  was  merely  a  codifica- 
tion of  the  existing  laws  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan 
upon  the  relief  of  the  poor.33 

The  primary  relief  authorities  provided  for  in  the 
Michigan  act  of  1805  were  any  three  justices  of  the 
peace.  The  secondary  authority,  who  carried  out 
the  orders  of  the  court,  and  let  the  contracts  for  the 
care  of  the  poor,  was  the  Marshal  of  the  Territory. 
By  1809  the  unit  of  relief  had  changed,  for  in  the 
meantime  the  Territory  had  been  divided  into  dis- 
tricts and  the  three  overseers  of  the  poor  in  each 
district,  appointed  annually  by  the  district  judges, 
had  become  the  authorities  for  the  relief  of  the  poor. 
By  1817  the  whole  scheme  of  local  government  had 
been  changed,  and  the  court  of  general  quarter  ses- 
sions of  the  peace  in  each  county  had  been  made  the 
primary  relief  authorities.  The  sheriff  of  the  coun- 
ty, as  the  secondary  authority,  let  to  the  lowest  bid- 
ders the  contracts  for  the  care  of  the  poor.  The 
only  change  made  in  this  respect  in  the  law  of  1818 
was  that  county  commissioners  displaced  the  justices 
of  the  peace,34  but  the  contracts  were  still  let  by  the 
sheriff.  By  an  amendment  adopted  on  July  17, 1824, 
however,  the  county  commissioners  were  authorized 
to  let  the  contract. 

In  the  act  of  1827  may  be  found  the  beginnings  of 


28        POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

the  mixed  county  and  township  system  in  the  relief 
of  poverty.  The  justices  of  the  peace  of  the  town- 
ship and  the  overseers  of  the  poor  in  that  township 
were  in  primary  control,  but  the  freeholders  voted 
the  taxes  and  the  county  supervisors  levied  them. 
The  secondary  authorities  were  the  constables  and 
the  overseers  of  the  poor.  The  overseers  thus  held 
an  unusual  and  unique  position.  In  1829  the  law 
put  the  entire  control  of  poor  relief  into  the  hands 
of  a  board  composed  of  the  treasurer  of  the  township 
and  five  directors.  The  taxes  were  voted  by  the 
township  electors.  The  number  of  these  directors 
in  a  township  was  changed  in  1831  from  five  to  one, 
who  had  sole  charge.  The  county  supervisor  from 
that  township,  the  township  clerk,  and  the  justices 
of  the  peace,  acting  as  a  township  board,  had  the 
power  to  fill  vacancies  in  the  office  of  director  and  to 
audit  the  accounts  of  the  director  and  the  treasurer. 
In  the  act  of  April  22,  1833,  recognition  was  given 
to  the  fact  that  a  general  statute  relating  to  town- 
ships passed  on  April  17, 1833,  had  changed  the  num- 
ber of  directors  from  one  to  two  for  each  township. 
The  unit  of  relief  was  the  whole  Territory  in  1805. 
A  smaller  unit  for  purposes  of  relief  was  not  needed 
at  that  time,  since  it  was  many  years  before  much 
money  was  appropriated  for  the  care  of  the  poor. 
In  1809,  however,  the  unit  of  relief  was  changed  to 
the  district;  in  1817,  to  the  county;  and  in  1827,  to 
the  township,  except  in  the  case  of  paupers  who  had 
no  legal  settlement  in  the  township,  in  which  event  it 
was  the  county.  The  law  of  1833  retained  the  town- 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  MICHIGAN  29 

ship  as  the  unit,  even  though  provision  was  made 
for  a  county  poorhouse,  since  the  township  was  re- 
sponsible for  the  expense  of  keeping  its  paupers  in 
the  county  poorhouse. 

The  act  of  1805  contained  no  law  of  settlement; 
but  in  the  act  of  1809,  borrowed  from  Vermont,  there 
were  elaborate  provisions  on  the  subject,  requiring 
other  than  residence  qualifications.  These  condi- 
tions of  legal  settlement  were  supplemented  by  the 
law  of  1825,  which  added  a  number  of  qualifications. 

In  the  special  law  of  1827  the  provision  of  the  act 
of  1809  with  reference  to  the  payment  of  taxes  was 
repeated  with  a  slight  change,  and  the  payment  of 
road  taxes  as  a  qualification  for  settlement  was  speci- 
fically excepted.  The  provision  of  the  law  of  1825 
with  respect  to  occupying  a  tenement  was  repeated ; 
the  length  of  time  which  one  must  have  served  in  a 
public  office  was  doubled ;  a  residence  of  one  year  for 
mariners  or  foreigners  coming  directly  to  the  town- 
ship was  required;  and  the  value  of  the  freehold 
estate  was  reduced  from  one  hundred  to  seventy-five 
dollars,  but  there  was  an  added  provision  that  legal 
settlement  should  continue  only  as  long  as  the  owner 
occupied  the  freehold.  A  provision  that  no  slave 
could  secure  legal  settlement  first  appears  in  this 
law;  and  the  section  of  the  law  of  1809  concerning 
the  legal  settlement  of  bastards  was  repeated.  These 
conditions  of  legal  settlement  prevailed  until  the  end 
of  the  period  under  discussion,  being  specifically 
repeated  in  the  laws  of  1829  and  1833. 

The  task  of  removing  persons  not  legally  settled  in 


30        POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

any  district  was  put  upon  the  overseers  by  the  act 
of  1809,  wherein  an  elaborate  procedure  was  outlined 
in  order  that  the  cost  of  caring  for  those  to  be  re- 
moved should  be  borne  by  the  district  where  such 
persons  last  had  legal  settlement.  Disputes  which 
might  occur  over  such  matters  were  to  be  settled  by 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Territory.  In  the  act  of 
1825  the  county  commissioners  were  constituted  the 
authority  to  remove  paupers  not  having  a  legal  set- 
tlement, unless  the  pauper  had  been  brought  in  by 
the  master  of  a  boat,  in  which  case  he  must  be  re- 
moved by  such  master  under  penalty  of  a  fine  of  one 
hundred  dollars.  The  law  of  1827  provided  for 
removal  by  the  constable  on  orders  from  any  two 
justices  of  the  peace,  and  the  person  removed  was  to 
be  turned  over  to  the  constable  of  the  adjoining 
county  towards  the  place  of  his  settlement,  if  out 
of  the  county,  or  of  the  township  in  which  he  had  a 
legal  settlement.  Action  to  remove  might  begin 
either  with  the  overseers  of  the  poor  or  with  the 
justices  of  the  peace.  Elaborate  provisions,  with 
suitable  penalties,  were  prescribed  to  force  the  au- 
thorities of  the  proper  local  jurisdictions  to  receive 
these  unwelcome  prodigals.  Moreover,  provision 
was  made  for  the  removal  of  slaves  who  might  come 
into  the  Territory. 

In  the  laws  of  1829,  1831,  and  1833,  no  changes 
were  made  except  that  all  the  duties  which  had 
formerly  fallen  upon  the  overseers  of  the  poor  de- 
volved upon  the  authorities  in  charge  of  the  poor  of 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  MICHIGAN  31 

the  township,  which  authorities  changed  with  the 
enactment  of  each  of  these  statutes. 

During  this  period  in  the  Territory  of  Michigan 
taxation  was  the  chief  source  of  revenue  for  the 
support  of  the  poor.  Certain  fines,  however,  went 
into  the  same  fund.  For  example,  in  the  law  of  1809 
it  was  provided  that  any  person  bringing  into  the 
Territory  any  poor  persons  who  had  no  legal  settle- 
ment therein  or  any  person  who  from  visible  appear- 
ances was  a  pauper,  with  the  intent  to  make  such 
persons  chargeable  to  the  Territory,  should  be  sub- 
ject to  a  fine  of  not  to  exceed  three  hundred  dollars 
which  was  to  go  to  the  overseers  to  be  used  for  the 
support  of  the  poor  in  the  district.  According  to 
the  laws  of  1825,  1827,  and  1833  as  much  of  the  cost 
of  supporting  the  poor  as  relatives  were  able  to  pay 
was  recoverable  from  them  within  certain  degrees  of 
relationship.  The  laws  of  1827  and  1833  stipulated 
that  any  overseers  of  the  poor  of  a  township  who 
refused  to  receive  any  pauper  who  was  removed  from 
a  place  where  he  had  no  legal  settlement  were  subject 
to  a  fine  of  twenty-five  dollars  for  each  offense,  to 
be  used  for  the  care  of  the  poor  in  the  township  from 
which  the  said  pauper  was  removed.  The  principle 
of  turning  fines  for  certain  offenses  into  the  poor 
fund  was  firmly  established  in  the  law  of  Michigan 
when  the  jurisdiction  of  that  Territory  was  extended 
over  the  Iowa  country. 

The  method  of  levying  the  taxes  for  the  support 
of  the  poor  varied  with  the  changes  in  the  system 


32        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

of  local  government.  In  1805  the  authorities  having 
this  power  were  the  Governor  and  Judges  of  the  Ter- 
ritory ;  in  1809,  the  judges  of  the  district  courts ;  in 
1817,  the  justices  of  the  court  of  general  quarter  ses- 
sions of  the  peace  in  each  county ;  in  1818,  the  county 
commissioners;  and  according  to  the  acts  of  March 
30, 1827,  and  April  17, 1833,  the  electors  of  the  town- 
ships.85 

Children  were  bound  out  by  the  court  of  general 
quarter  sessions  of  the  peace  under  the  provisions 
of  the  act  of  1817  —  the  first  poor  law  in  which  pro- 
vision was  made  for  that  method  of  caring  for  de- 
pendent children.  In  the  act  of  1820  the  county  com- 
missioners were  assigned  this  duty,  which  by  the  act 
of  1833  was  transferred  to  the  directors  of  the  poor 
in  each  township. 

The  liability  of  relatives  for  the  support  of  pau- 
pers was  provided  for  in  the  laws  of  1825, 1827,  and 
1833.  In  the  first  of  these  acts  the  father,  grand- 
father, mother,  grandmother,  children,  and  grand- 
children were  liable,  according  to  their  ability,  up  to 
$2.50  a  week  for  each  pauper,  the  amount  being  de- 
termined by  the  poor  relief  authorities.  In  the  law 
of  1827  the  same  relatives  were  made  liable,  but  the 
maximum  amount  which  could  be  collected  from  them 
was  $1.25  per  week  for  each  dependent  person,  and 
there  was  a  special  provision  concerning  the  liability 
of  the  property  of  any  father  or  husband  or  widow 
who  abandoned  those  naturally  dependent  upon  them 
for  support.  The  law  of  1833  omitted  the  section 
relating  to  the  liability  of  relatives,  but  its  provi- 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  MICHIGAN  33 

sions  concerning  deserting  supporters  were  identical 
with  those  of  the  act  of  1827,  except  for  the  change  in 
designation  of  the  poor  relief  authorities  who  were 
to  have  charge  of  the  collection  of  the  amounts  for 
which  natural  supporters  were  liable. 

Provisions  for  the  care  of  the  poor  in  poorhouses 
did  not  appear  in  the  legislation  of  the  Territory  of 
Michigan  until  the  adoption  of  the  act  of  1829,  al- 
though in  the  act  of  1809  there  is  language  which 
might  be  construed  to  allow  the  overseers  of  the  poor 
in  each  district  to  care  for  the  poor  by  this  method 
but  which  doubtless  meant  merely  that  some  kind  of 
a  shelter  should  be  provided,  without  implying  that 
the  district  should  provide  a  poorhouse. 

Before  the  enactment  of  the  general  poorhouse  law 
of  1829  a  special  act  was  approved  on  June  23, 1828, 
providing  for  an  election  in  Wayne  County  on  the 
proposition  of  building  a  poorhouse.36  This  act  made 
provision  for  a  combined  poorhouse  and  house  of 
correction,  and  the  details  of  its  management  were 
definitely  outlined.  This  feature,  moreover,  has  re- 
cently been  incorporated  in  the  most  successful  ex- 
periment in  the  care  of  the  poor  thus  far  made  in 
this  country,  namely,  the  plan  adopted  by  the  city  of 
Cleveland,  Ohio. 

In  case  the  electors  of  Wayne  County  should  vote 
favorably  on  the  proposition  to  erect  a  poorhouse, 
the  law  provided  that  the  supervisors  were  to  select 
a  special  committee  to  purchase  the  grounds  and 
erect  the  buildings  and  appoint  a  board  of  three  re- 
spectable citizens  to  manage  the  institution.  These 


34        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

directors  were  constituted  a  body  corporate  and 
politic,  and  penalties  were  prescribed  for  refusal  to 
serve.  The  board  of  directors  was  authorized  to 
appoint  the  superintendent  and  such  other  officials 
as  were  necessary  to  manage  the  poorhouse,  to  bind 
out  apprentices,  and  to  exercise  all  the  powers  hith- 
erto residing  in  the  overseers  of  the  poor  in  that 
county.  A  limitation  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
was  placed  upon  the  size  of  the  farm,  as  was  also  the 
case  in  the  later  laws  of  Michigan.  The  inmates  of 
the  house  of  correction  were  to  serve  the  inmates  of 
the  poorhouse.  Moreover,  the  act  contained  provi- 
sions for  the  auditing  of  the  accounts  of  the  board 
of  directors  and  for  a  report  by  them  to  the  county 
supervisors. 

This  unique  institution  was  to  serve  also  as  an 
asylum  for  any  pauper  lunatics  of  the  county,  a  pro- 
vision which  probably  suggested  the  system  of  county 
prisons  for  this  class  of  dependents  provided  for  in 
the  act  of  March  7,  1834.  A  quorum  of  the  direc- 
tors was  required  to  meet  at  the  institution  once  a 
month  to  see  that  their  orders  were  being  obeyed. 
Furthermore,  the  overseers  of  the  poor  in  the  vari- 
ous townships  of  the  county  were  relieved  of  their 
functions  so  far  as  receiving  and  disbursing  money 
for  the  relief  of  the  poor  was  concerned.  In  fact,  the 
overseers  virtually  became  servants  of  the  board  of 
directors  of  the  poorhouse. 

The  proposition  was  voted  on  favorably  by  the 
people  of  Wayne  County,  and  Detroit  was  chosen  as 
the  location  of  the  first  county  poorhouse  in  the  Ter- 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  MICHIGAN  35 

ritory  of  Michigan.  Doubtless  the  example  fur- 
nished by  this  county,  which  contained  the  largest 
settlement  in  the  Territory,  had  much  influence  in 
determining  the  content  of  the  general  poorhouse 
laws  of  1829  and  1830.  At  first  the  poorhouse  was 
managed  by  the  board  of  directors  appointed  by  the 
supervisors,  as  provided  for  in  the  statute.  But  by 
an  act  approved  on  February  19,  1834,  the  common 
council  of  Detroit  was  required  to  perform  the  same 
duties  with  respect  to  the  paupers  of  that  city  as 
were  required,  according  to  the  act  of  April  22, 1833, 
of  directors  of  the  poor  and  justices  of  the  peace  in 
other  parts  of  the  Territory. 

By  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  1829  the  care  of 
paupers  in  the  poorhouse  was  not  made  obligatory, 
but  was  an  alternative  plan  which  might  be  adopted, 
and  the  authorities  might  rent,  build,  or  purchase 
poorhouses,  if  such  a  course  seemed  desirable.  The 
law  of  1830,  on  the  other  hand,  dealt  exclusively  with 
relief  of  the  poor  by  means  of  the  poorhouse.  Bor- 
rowed from  the  Ohio  act  of  1816,  it  had  the  elabor- 
ate machinery  of  that  law,  except  that  it  made  no 
provision  for  township  poorhouses  in  case  a  county 
did  not  build  one,  and  that  it  provided  that  a  town- 
ship should  pay  the  county  for  the  care  of  the  pau- 
pers which  such  township  might  have  in  the  county 
poorhouse.  Otherwise,  it  corresponded  in  its  main 
features  to  the  Ohio  law  upon  which  it  was  modeled. 

The  statute  above  outlined  was  incorporated  into 
the  act  of  1833  —  the  first  comprehensive  statute 
dealing  with  the  care  of  the  poor  adopted  in  the  Ter- 


36        POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

ritory  of  Michigan,  and  in  fact,  the  first  law  com- 
bining all  the  various  methods  of  dealing  with  the 
poor  produced  by  the  experience  of  the  States  and 
Territories  carved  out  of  the  Old  Northwest  up  to 
that  time.  It  should  be  noticed,  however,  that  when 
the  act  of  1830  was  incorporated  into  the  law  of  1833, 
cognizance  was  taken  of  the  fact  that  the  statute  of 
March  12,  1833,  had  transferred  the  management  of 
the  poorhouse  from  the  board  of  directors  appointed 
by  the  supervisors,  after  the  example  of  the  Ohio  law, 
to  the  county  supervisors  themselves.87 

Various  methods  of  relieving  the  poor  were  pro- 
vided for  in  the  legislation  of  the  Territory  of  Mich- 
igan. The  act  of  1805  made  provision  for  the  farm- 
ing out  of  the  poor  by  the  Marshal  of  the  Territory 
on  the  orders  of  any  three  justices  of  the  peace.  In 
the  law  of  1809  any  method  was  apparently  left  open 
to  the  authorities,  for  the  language  of  the  act  was 
very  indefinite.  The  probabilities  are  that  farming 
out  the  care  of  the  poor  was  the  method  considered 
most  feasible.  The  laws  of  1817  and  1820  specified 
the  farming  out  of  the  adults  and  binding  out  of  the 
dependent  children.  Farming  out  was  supplemented 
in  the  act  of  1824  by  provision  for  direct  outdoor 
relief  in  the  case  of  those  in  temporary  need  —  the 
first  appearance  of  this  method  in  the  legislation  of 
Michigan.  In  1825  there  was  added  the  provision 
for  support  by  relatives,  or  by  relatives  and  the 
county.  The  temporary  law  of  1827  retained  the 
section  relative  to  support  by  relatives,  contained  a 
family-desertion  clause,  and  provided  again  for  di- 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  MICHIGAN  37 

rect  out-relief  in  money.  The  law  of  1829  definitely 
provided  for  the  erection  of  city  or  township  poor- 
houses  upon  the  approval  of  a  majority  of  the  in- 
habitants and  householders,  and  for  binding  out  the 
pauper  children  in  the  poorhouses.  In  1830  provi- 
sion was  made  for  county  poorhouses,  supported  by 
the  townships  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  pau- 
pers in  that  institution  from  each  township.  In  1833 
the  only  changes  made  in  the  law  of  1827  were  to 
omit  the  provisions  concerning  support  by  relatives 
and  to  incorporate  the  optional  provisions  for  county 
poorhouses  found  in  the  law  of  1830. 

It  was  only  in  an  act  of  March  7,  1834,  that  pro- 
vision was  made  for  the  special  treatment  of  the  pau- 
per insane.38  It  is  quite  likely  that,  while  the  laws 
provided  for  the  erection  of  poorhouses,  very  few 
counties  availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity,  and 
therefore  the  problem  of  the  separation  of  any  class 
of  defectives  from  the  poor  had  not  arisen.  The  act 
of  March  7th  required  the  sheriff  to  receive  insane 
paupers  and  care  for  them  in  the  county  prison  or 
other  place  of  security,  if  asked  to  do  so  by  the  di- 
rectors of  the  poor  in  the  townships,  or  by  the  mayor, 
recorder,  and  aldermen  of  Detroit  —  a  provision 
pointing  to  the  realization  by  the  community  that 
this  class  of  paupers  required  special  care  in  the  in- 
terests of  the  public. 

A  study  of  the  legislation  of  the  Territory  of 
Michigan  reveals  the  same  uncertainty  as  to  the  best 
method  of  relieving  poverty  as  was  exhibited  in  Ohio. 


38        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

At  the  same  time,  it  is  evident  that  Michigan  profited 
by  the  experience  of  Ohio  and  did  not  endeavor  to 
solve  the  problem  by  any  one  method  as  was  attempt- 
ed in  that  State  from  1816  to  1831  under  the  poor- 
house  law.  During  this  period  the  Michigan  country 
was  undeveloped,  and  hence  one  is  not  surprised  to 
find  that  the  laws  lack  the  elaborate  details  necessary 
in  older  Commonwealths.  On  the  whole,  however, 
the  various  systems  of  poor  relief  tried  at  one  time 
or  another  in  the  Northwest  Territory  and  Ohio  are 
to  be  found  in  the  laws  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan ; 
while  the  only  new  features  are  the  act  which  resulted 
in  the  establishment  of  the  poorhouse  at  Detroit,  and 
the  law  combining  the  methods  of  caring  for  the  poor 
in  poorhouses,  in  their  homes,  or  by  contract. 


m 

POOE  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  THE  TERRI- 
TORY OF  WISCONSIN 

For  almost  two  years  after  the  organization  of  the 
original  Territory  of  Wisconsin  in  1836  no  poor  re- 
lief law  was  adopted,  the  first  Wisconsin  act  on  that 
subject  being  approved  on  January  3,  1838.  Before 
the  passage  of  this  act  the  poor  laws  of  Michigan 
continued  in  force  in  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin, 
since  section  twelve  of  the  Organic  Act  provided  that 
"the  existing  laws  of  the  territory  of  Michigan  shall 
be  extended  over  said  territory  [Wisconsin],  so  far 
as  the  same  be  not  incompatible  with  the  provisions 
of  this  act,  subject,  nevertheless,  to  be  altered,  mod- 
ified, or  repealed,  by  the  governor  and  legislative  as- 
sembly of  the  said  territory  of  Wisconsin. ' ' 39  Thus, 
in  theory  the  Michigan  statute  of  1833  relating  to  the 
relief  of  the  poor  remained  the  law  of  the  new  Terri- 
tory until  the '  '  first  organization  of  the  first  board  of 
county  commissioners,  in  the  several  counties  in  this 
territory"  under  the  Wisconsin  acts  of  December  30, 
1837,  and  January  3,  1838. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  although  the  Iowa  country  was 
a  part  of  the  original  Territory  of  Wisconsin,  it  is 
doubtful  if  the  Michigan  law  was  ever  actually  ap- 
plied to  the  relief  of  poverty  in  the  region  west  of  the 

39 


40        POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

Mississippi  River  because  of  the  sparse  population.40 
Moreover,  since  the  Iowa  country  was  organized  into 
a  separate  Territory  in  1838  it  is  probable  that  the 
Wisconsin  law  of  the  same  year  did  not  have  any 
important  effect  until  after  the  division  of  the  Terri- 
tory had  taken  place. 

The  importance  of  the  Wisconsin  act  in  this  con- 
nection lies  in  the  fact  that  the  Territory  of  Iowa 
had  no  poor  relief  legislation  of  its  own  until  Janu- 
ary 16,  1840,  and  then  the  above  law  was  adopted 
with  a  few  modifications.  Consequently  it  may  be 
said  that  this  Wisconsin  law  prevailed  in  the  Terri- 
tory of  Iowa  until  the  passage  of  the  law  of  Febru- 
ary 17,  1842,  although  again  it  is  doubtful  whether 
the  law  was  ever  invoked  by  a  single  county  in  the 
new  and  sparsely  settled  Territory.41 

The  lineage  of  this  first  poor  law  of  the  Territory 
of  Wisconsin  is  doubtful.42  It  had  points  of  similar- 
ity to  the  Michigan  act  of  1833,  but  its  points  of  dif- 
ference were  no  less  striking  than  its  similarities. 
It  resembled  in  some  of  its  sections  other  acts  of  the 
Territory  of  Michigan  and,  of  course,  more  remotely 
some  of  the  Ohio  laws  upon  which  so  much  of  the 
legislation  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan  was  modeled. 
In  section  one  it  followed  quite  closely  section  one  of 
the  Michigan  act  of  1820,  although  it  was  much  differ- 
ent in  phraseology.  Section  two  resembled  in  a  gen- 
eral way  the  same  section  of  the  Michigan  act  of 
1825.  Precisely  the  same  relatives  were  made  liable 
for  the  support  of  paupers ;  but  the  Wisconsin  stat- 
ute made  the  penalty  recoverable  for  refusal  to  sup- 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  WISCONSIN  41 

port  pauper  relatives  fifteen  dollars  per  month  in- 
stead of  $2.50  a  week,  and  excepted  all  relatives  but 
parents  and  children  from  liability  to  support  pauper 
relatives  who  were  paupers  by  reason  of  intemper- 
ance or  bad  conduct.  Section  three  was  simply  an 
extension  of  section  two  precisely  defining  the  order 
in  which  relatives  should  be  called  upon  to  support 
paupers,  a  provision  here  met  with  for  the  first  time 
in  the  legislation  of  Ohio,  Michigan,  or  Wisconsin. 

Section  four  reminds  one  of  those  provisions  of 
the  Ohio  and  Michigan  acts  which  made  certain  per- 
sons, who  for  some  reason  had  no  legal  claim  upon 
the  poor  funds,  a  charge  upon  the  county.  The  pur- 
pose of  the  Wisconsin  statute,  however,  was  much 
broader,  in  that  it  made  the  reference  to  those  who 
had  no  relatives  to  support  them  a  means  of  defining 
those  who  might  receive  relief,  and  provided  two 
methods  by  which  the  commissioners  might  care  for 
the  poor  —  by  contract  or  by  appointing  agents  to 
care  for  them.  Section  five,  relating  to  the  binding 
out  of  minor  paupers,  resembled  section  fifteen  of 
the  Michigan  act  of  1833  in  principle,  although  there 
were  striking  differences  in  the  language.  Sections 
six  and  seven,  the  first  part  of  section  eight,  and  all 
of  section  nine  remind  one  of  section  sixteen  of  the 
Michigan  act  of  1833,  but  they  were  much  briefer 
and  simpler  and  were  to  be  administered  by  different 
authorities.  The  latter  part  of  section  eight  was 
somewhat  like  section  five  of  the  same  Michigan  act, 
except  that  the  procedure  in  the  case  of  a  non-res- 
ident pauper  was  reversed.  The  latter  part  of  sec- 


42        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

tion  ten  resembled  section  two  of  the  Michigan  act 
of  1809,  in  that  it  provided  a  penalty  to  be  imposed 
on  any  one  who  should  bring  a  pauper  into  a  county, 
and  it  was  similar  to  section  six  of  the  Michigan  act 
of  1825,  in  that  the  penalty  for  such  an  offense  was 
$100.  Section  eleven  provided  that  the  act  should 
take  effect  upon  the  organization  of  the  first  board  of 
county  commissioners  in  the  several  counties  of  the 
Territory.48 

From  this  brief  review  and  comparison,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  authors  of  the  Wisconsin  act  of  Janu- 
ary 3, 1838,  gathered  their  ideas  from  many  different 
sources  —  chiefly  from  the  laws  of  Michigan  —  but 
that  they  combined  them  into  a  new  statute  in  an  en- 
tirely independent  manner.  Throughout  the  measure 
there  are  signs  of  a  demand  for  directness  of  method 
and  simplicity  of  procedure.  Apparently  the  authors 
were  in  close  touch  with  conditions  in  the  pioneer 
region  for  which  they  were  legislating  and  therefore 
rejected  all  details  that  were  superfluous  and  inap- 
plicable. The  simplicity  and  directness  of  the  law 
becomes  apparent  upon  a  brief  analysis. 

The  unit  of  relief  was  the  county ;  and  so  the  pri- 
mary relief  authorities  were  the  county  commission- 
ers, although  there  were  township  overseers  of  the 
poor  whose  duty  it  was  to  care  for  those  who  needed 
temporary  relief  and  were  not  properly  county 
charges  under  the  act,  and  to  supplement  the  work  of 
the  county  commissioners.  The  terms  of  settlement 
were  simplified  to  a  residence  of  one  year.  The  poor 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  WISCONSIN  43 

could  be  cared  for  by  farming  them  out  on  contract, 
by  committing  them  to  the  care  of  agents  appointed 
by  the  county  commissioners,  by  binding  out  the 
minors,  or  by  providing  workhouses  for  their  care. 
Relatives  were  chargeable  (if  able  to  furnish  the  sup- 
port) with  the  care  of  paupers  according  to  a  spe- 
cifically designated  order  of  relationship.  In  fact, 
the  primary  responsibility  for  the  care  of  the  poor 
according  to  this  law  lay  upon  the  relatives  —  a  pro- 
vision the  wisdom  of  which  has  been  demonstrated 
by  modern  philanthropy. 

The  law,  furthermore,  contained  provisions  for 
the  removal  of  paupers  who  had  no  legal  settlement, 
or  for  a  warning  to  them  to  depart  from  the  relief 
unit  and  for  the  cessation  of  relief.  Penalties  were 
also  prescribed  for  the  bringing  of  paupers  into  the 
Territory.  Idiots  and  lunatics  were  specifically  in- 
cluded with  the  poor  in  the  provisions  of  this  act, 
and  in  the  sections  dealing  with  the  care  of  paupers 
who  fell  sick  it  continued  the  best  practices  of  the 
laws  of  Ohio  and  Michigan.  Its  brevity,  simplicity, 
and  comprehensiveness,  together  with  its  lack  of  de- 
tailed administrative  directions,  mark  this  law  as 
distinctly  modern  in  its  nature. 


IV 

POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  THE  TEBEI- 
TOEY  OF  IOWA 

The  First  Legislative  Assembly  of  the  Territory 
of  Iowa  passed  no  general  law  relative  to  the  relief 
of  the  poor,  although  a  bill  for  such  an  act  was  intro- 
duced, passed  the  House,  and  was  sent  to  the  Coun- 
cil, where  after  considerable  consideration  it  was  in- 
definitely postponed.44  As  a  consequence  the  law  of 
Wisconsin  Territory,  approved  on  January  3,  1838, 
remained  in  force  in  the  Territory  of  Iowa.  The 
First  Legislative  Assembly  did,  however,  pass  an  act 
providing  that  all  insane  paupers  should  be  entitled 
to  the  benefits  of  the  laws  of  the  Territory  for  the  re- 
lief of  other  paupers,  and  that  all  officials  concerned 
should  govern  themselves  accordingly.45 

The  first  statute  relating  strictly  to  the  relief  of 
the  poor,  enacted  in  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  was 
passed  by  the  Second  Legislative  Assembly.  Intro- 
duced into  the  Council  on  November  28,  1839,  it 
passed  both  houses  and  was  signed  by  Governor  Lu- 
cas on  January  16,  1840.46  This  act  was  almost  a 
duplicate  of  the  Wisconsin  law  approved  on  January 
3, 1838. 

As  in  the  Wisconsin  act,  the  care  of  the  poor  was 
vested  exclusively  in  the  county  commissioners.47 

44 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  IOWA  45 

From  the  list  of  relatives  mentioned  in  the  Wiscon- 
sin law  as  liable  for  the  support  of  paupers  there 
were  omitted  the  grandfather,  grandmother,  grand- 
children, brothers,  and  sisters.  Only  parents  and 
children  were  retained.  From  the  Wisconsin  law, 
therefore,  was  also  eliminated  the  proviso  that  in 
case  poverty  was  caused  by  intemperance  or  bad  con- 
duct only  the  parents  or  children  were  liable.  Penal- 
ties for  the  failure  of  support  by  the  relatives  named 
were  retained.  Furthermore,  this  act  followed  the 
Wisconsin  law  in  allowing  the  county  commissioners 
to  care  for  the  poor  by  contract  or  by  agents ;  and 
differed  therefrom  only  in  the  omission  of  the  pro- 
vision that  married  women  during  the  lifetime  of 
their  husbands  were  not  to  be  liable  to  a  suit  for  the 
maintenance  of  pauper  relatives,  and  in  the  omission 
of  section  three  of  the  Wisconsin  act  naming  the  or- 
der in  which  relatives  were  to  be  liable  —  omissions 
made  necessary  by  the  change  concerning  the  rela- 
tives who  were  liable  for  the  support  of  paupers. 
The  section  with  reference  to  binding  out  minor  chil- 
dren differed  from  the  Wisconsin  statute  only  in 
omitting  the  provision  that  they  were  to  be  bound 
out  to  a  '  *  respectable  householder  of  the  county ' '. 

The  method  of  caring  for  non-resident  paupers  was 
the  same  in  both  statutes,  except  that  the  Iowa  law 
substituted  the  county  commissioners  for  the  town- 
ship overseers  of  the  poor.  In  both  cases  the  expense 
was  to  be  paid  out  of  the  county  treasury.  Both  laws 
required  the  county  commissioners  to  secure  from 
applicants  for  relief  satisfactory  evidence  of  a  resi- 


46        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

dence  of  twelve  months  before  relief  could  be  given. 
The  sections  on  the  removal  of  non-resident  appli- 
cants for  relief  who  were  not  sick  were  practically 
identical,  requiring,  in  both  cases,  either  an  order 
directed  to  the  constable  to  remove  such  persons  at 
county  expense  to  their  proper  places  of  residence  or 
else  a  warning  to  the  persons  to  depart,  refusal  of 
any  relief  thereafter,  and  a  report  to  the  clerk  of  the 
board  of  county  commissioners  by  the  constable  in- 
dicating the  service  of  such  a  notice.  Both  laws  had 
the  same  provisions  for  penalizing  persons  who 
brought  paupers  into  the  county,  except  that  the  Wis- 
consin statute  provided  for  a  fine  of  one  hundred  dol- 
lars to  be  recovered  before  any  justice  of  the  peace 
or  other  court  having  jurisdiction,  while  the  Iowa 
statute  omitted  any  mention  of  the  justices  of  the 
peace.  In  both  cases  the  fine  was  to  be  used  for  the 
care  of  the  poor  of  the  county. 

The  sections  on  the  establishment  of  poorhouses 
were  alike  in  the  two  statutes  —  providing  for  the 
building  or  establishing  of  workhouses,  if  deemed 
proper,  for  such  paupers  as  became  county  charges. 
These  institutions  were  to  be  under  such  rules  and 
regulations  as  the  commissioners  considered  just  and 
necessary.  The  Iowa  law  omitted  the  last  section  of 
the  Wisconsin  act  stating  the  time  when  the  act  was 
to  go  into  operation.  In  short,  the  Iowa  law  was  a 
faithful  copy  of  the  Wisconsin  act,  with  such  modi- 
fications as  were  needed  to  adapt  it  to  the  local  ad- 
ministrative system  of  the  new  Territory.48  The  f ol- 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  IOWA 


47 


lowing  parallel  comparison  will  reveal  more  clearly 
the  close  resemblance  between  these  two  statutes : 


THE  WISCONSIN  STATUTE  OF 
JANUARY  3,  1838 

SECTION  1.  Be  it  enacted 
by  the  council  and  house  of 
representatives  of  the  terri- 
tory of  Wisconsin,  That  the 
board  of  county  commis- 
sioners, of  the  several  coun- 
ties of  this  territory,  shall 
be,  and  they  are  hereby  vest- 
ed, with  entire  and  exclu- 
sive superintendence  of  the 
poor  in  their  respective 
counties. 

SECTION  2.  Every  poor 
person,  who  shall  be  unable 
to  earn  a  livelihood,  in  con- 
sequence of  bodily  infirmity, 
idiocy,  lunacy,  or  other  un- 
avoidable cause,  shall  be  sup- 
ported by  the  father,  grand- 
father, mother,  grandmoth- 
er, children,  grandchildren, 
brothers  or  sisters,  of  such 
poor  person,  if  they  or  eith- 
er of  them  be  of  sufficient 
ability;  and  every  person 
who  shall  fail  or  refuse  to 
support  his  or  her  father, 
grandfather,  mother,  grand- 


THE  IOWA  STATUTE  OP  JAN- 
UARY 16,  1840 
SECTION  1.  Be  it  enacted 
by  the  Council  and  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  Ter- 
ritory of  Iowa,  That  the 
board  of  county  commission- 
ers of  the  several  counties  of 
this  territory,  shall  be  and 
they  are  hereby  vested  with 
entire  and  exclusive  superin- 
tendence of  the  poor  in  their 
respective  counties. 

SEC.  2.  Every  poor  per- 
son who  shall  be  unable  to 
earn  a  livelihood,  in  conse- 
quence of  bodily  infirmity, 
idiocy,  lunacy  or  other  un- 
avoidable cause,  shall  be  sup- 
ported by  the  father,  moth- 
er, or  children  of  such  poor 
person,  if  they,  or  either  of 
them,  be  of  sufficient  ability, 
and  every  person  who  shall 
fail  or  refuse  to  support  his 
or  her  father,  mother  or 
child,  when  directed  by  the 
board  of  commissioners  of 
the  county  where  such  poor 


48        POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 


mother,  child,  or  grandchild, 
sister  or  brother,  when  di- 
rected by  the  board  of 
county  commissioners  of  the 
county  where  such  poor  per- 
son shall  be  found,  whether 
such  relation  reside  in  the 
county  or  not,  shall  forfeit 
and  pay  to  the  county  com- 
missioners, for  the  use  of  the 
poor  of  their  county,  the 
sum  of  fifteen  dollars  per 
month;  for  which  if  they  or 
either  of  them  shall  fail  or 
refuse  so  to  do,  to  be  recov- 
ered in  the  name  of  the 
county  commissioners,  for 
the  use  of  the  poor  as  afore- 
said, before  any  justice  of 
the  peace,  or  any  court  hav- 
ing jurisdiction:  provided, 
that  when  any  person  be- 
comes a  pauper,  from  intem- 
perance, or  other  bad  con- 
duct, they  shall  not  be  en- 
titled to  support  from  any 
relation,  except  parent  or 
child. 

SECTION  3.  The  children 
shall  be  the  first  called  on, 
to  support  their  parents,  if 
there  be  children  of  suffi- 
cient ability.  If  there  be 


person  shall  be  found, 
whether  such  relative  reside 
in  the  county  or  not,  shall 
forfeit  and  pay  to  the  coun- 
ty commissioners,  for  the  use 
of  the  poor  of  their  county, 
the  sum  of  fifteen  dollars  per 
month,  to  be  recovered  in 
the  name  of  the  county  com- 
missioners, for  the  use  of  the 
poor  as  aforesaid,  before  any 
justice  of  the  peace  or  any 
court  having  jurisdiction. 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  IOWA 


49 


none  of  sufficient  ability  the 
parents  of  such  poor  person 
shall  be  next  called  on;  and 
if  there  be  no  parents,  or 
children,  of  sufficient  ability, 
the  brothers  and  sisters  of 
such  poor  person  shall  be 
next  called  on;  and  if  there 
be  no  brothers  or  sisters,  the 
grandchildren  of  such  poor 
person,  shall  be  called  on, 
and  then  on  the  grandpar- 
ents: provided,  married  fe- 
males, whilst  their  husbands 
live  shall  not  be  liable  to  a 
suit. 

SECTION  4.  When  any 
such  poor  person  shall  not 
have  any  such  relatives,  in 
any  county  in  this  territory, 
as  are  named  in  the  preced- 
ing sections,  or  such  relative 
shall  not  be  of  sufficient 
ability,  or  shall  fail,  or  re- 
fuse, to  maintain  such  pau- 
per, then  the  said  pauper, 
shall  receive  such  relief  as 
his  or  her  case  may  require, 
out  of  the  county  treasury; 
and  the  county  commission- 
ers may  either  make  con- 
tracts for  the  necessary 
maintenance  of  the  poor,  or 


SEC.  3.  When  any  such 
person  shall  not  have  any 
such  relative  in  this  terri- 
tory, as  are  named  in  the 
preceding  sections,  or  such 
relative  shall  not  be  of  suf- 
ficient ability,  or  shall  fail 
or  refuse  to  maintain  such 
pauper,  then  the  said  pauper 
shall  receive  such  relief  as 
the  case  may  require  out  of 
the  county  treasury ;  and  the 
county  commissioners  may 
either  make  contracts  for 
the  necessary  maintenance 
of  the  poor,  or  appoint  such 
agents  as  they  may  deem  nee- 


50        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  ,IN  IOWA 

appoint  such  agents  as  they  essary,  to  oversee  and  pro- 
may  deem  necessary  to  over-  vide  for  the  same. —  Laws  of 
see    and    provide    for    the  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1839- 
same. —  Laws  of  the  Terri-  1840,  pp.  83,  84. 
tory    of    Wisconsin,    1837- 
1838,  pp.  178,  179. 

Of  all  the  features  which  were  to  be  found  in  the 
various  laws  of  the  Northwest  Territory,  and  the 
Territories  of  Michigan  and  Wisconsin,  the  follow- 
ing survived  in  the  first  poor  law  of  the  Territory  of 
Iowa: 

1.  The  primary  authorities  charged  with  the  care 
of  the  poor  were  the  county  commissioners.    In  this 
respect  the  law  followed  the  Michigan  experiment  of 
1818,  when,  on  the  basis  of  the  experience  in  Ohio, 
the  device  was  invented  of  making  the  county  com- 
missioners responsible  not  only  for  the  conduct  of 
the  poorhouse  as  had  been  the  case  in  Ohio,  but  also 
for  the  outdoor  relief. 

2.  The  section  making  relatives  responsible  for 
the  care  of  paupers  remained  after  it  had  been  left 
out  of  the  laws  of  Ohio  for  many  years.     Of  the  rela- 
tives named  in  the  original  statute  of  the  Northwest 
Territory  (1795)  which  was  borrowed  from  Penn- 
sylvania there  remained,  however,  only  the  father, 
mother,  and  children  of  the  pauper  who  were  held 
liable  for  his  support.    All  other  relatives  had  been 
dropped  entirely  from  enumeration  in  the  law.49    In 
the  case  of  paupers  not  having  a  legal  settlement  and 
falling  sick  in  the  county,  the  Iowa  law  differed  from 
the  Wisconsin  statute  by  making  the  county  commis- 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  IOWA  51 

sioners  rather  than  the  overseers  of  the  poor  respon- 
sible for  their  care. 

3.  The  provision  for  overseers  of  the  poor  was 
omitted  from  the  Wisconsin  statute  when  that  law 
was  copied  by  the  Legislative  Assembly  of  the  Terri- 
tory of  Iowa.  The  county  commissioners  were  made 
responsible  for  the  entire  care  of  the  poor.  On  Jan- 
uary 10, 1840,  just  six  days  before  the  general  law  re- 
lating to  the  relief  of  the  poor  was  approved,  how- 
ever, the  legislature  passed  and  the  Governor  ap- 
proved an  act  concerning  township  officers,  among 
whom  were  two  overseers  of  the  poor  to  be  elected 
by  the  electors  of  the  township.  It  was  the  duty  of 
the  township  trustees  to  settle  the  accounts  of  the 
overseers  of  the  poor,  and  to  provide  compensation 
for  them.50  Three  theories  may  be  advanced  to  ac- 
count for  this  anomalous  condition  of  affairs.  In  the 
first  place,  it  may  be  assumed  that  this  provision  was 
made  on  the  basis  of  the  practice  which  had  obtained 
from  the  days  when  the  jurisdiction  of  Michigan 
Territory  was  extended  over  this  region  and  that  the 
overseers  here  provided  for  did  actually  function 
even  after  the  adoption  law  of  January  16,  1840,  was 
passed.  Secondly,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
when  the  act  of  January  16th  was  passed,  placing  the 
whole  system  of  poor  relief  in  the  hands  of  the  county 
commissioners  without  any  provision  for  township 
control,  the  inconsistency  between  the  two  laws  with 
respect  to  the  relief  authorities  was  not  noticed. 
Finally,  it  is  possible  that  the  Legislative  Assembly 
allowed  the  provision  for  overseers  of  the  poor  to 


52        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

stand  for  the  reason  that  the  law  of  January  16th 
did  not  go  into  effect  in  any  given  county  until  after 
the  organization  of  the  board  of  county  commis- 
sioners. 

4.  The  Iowa  law  retained  the  provision  that  the 
county  commissioners  should  build  a  poorhouse  if 
they  saw  fit. 

5.  It  retained  the  section  relating  to  the  removal 
of  persons  not  having  a  legal  settlement  who  applied 
for  relief  or  were  likely  to  need  relief,  the  procedure 
consisting  of  a  warning  followed  by  instructions  to 
the  constable  to  remove  such  persons. 

No  statute  relative  to  poor  relief  which  has  thus 
far  come  within  the  scope  of  this  discussion  was  so 
admirably  adapted  to  the  needs  of  a  young  and  grow- 
ing community  as  the  first  law  enacted  in  the  Terri- 
tory of  Iowa.  Simple,  comprehensive,  easily  adapted 
to  the  changing  conditions  of  a  new  country,  it  repre- 
sents a  type  of  law  on  the  relief  of  the  poor  which  is 
all  too  rare  even  at  this  late  date. 

The  act  of  January  16,  1840,  contained  no  clause 
repealing  any  existing  laws.  At  the  special  session 
of  the  Legislative  Assembly,  held  in  the  summer  of 
1840,  however,  an  act  was  passed  which  repealed  all 
acts  of  the  Territories  of  Michigan  and  Wisconsin 
which  were  in  effect  in  the  Iowa  country  on  July  4, 
1838,  the  date  of  the  organization  of  the  new  Ter- 
ritory.61 

The  act  of  1840  remained  in  force  for  two  years, 
or  until  the  laws  enacted  by  the  Third  Legislative 
Assembly  of  the  Territory  went  into  effect.  Two 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  IOWA  53 

bills  relative  to  the  care  of  the  poor  were  passed  dur- 
ing this  session  of  the  Territorial  legislature.  Turn- 
ing away  from  the  precedents  set  by  Michigan  and 
Wisconsin  in  enacting  a  comprehensive  bill  covering 
the  care  of  the  poor  both  outside  and  inside  the  poor- 
house,  the  legislature  in  1842  passed  an  act  "for  the 
relief  of  the  Poor"  and  another  "to  authorize  the 
establishment  of  poor  Houses".  Both  were  intro- 
duced by  Mr.  Biggs  on  January  24,  1842, 52  and  both 
were  borrowed  from  the  Ohio  statutes  of  1831. 

The  bill  relating  to  the  care  of  the  poor  outside  of 
the  poorhouses  contained  a  section  which  provided 
that  ' '  nothing  in  this  act  shall  be  so  construed  as  to 
enable  any  black  or  mulatto  person  to  gain  a  legal 
settlement  in  this  Territory",  a  provision  which  had 
been  inserted  in  the  poor  law  of  Ohio  in  1829,  as  has 
already  been  seen.  Mr.  Porter,  a  Whig,  moved  that 
this  section  be  stricken  out;  but  on  a  yea  and  nay 
vote  the  motion  was  lost  by  a  vote  of  twenty  to 
three.58  Aside  from  this  incident  neither  of  these 
bills  seemed  to  excite  any  popular  interest  at  a  time 
when  the  chief  points  of  attention  were  political 
rather  than  humanitarian.  This  is  indicated  by  the 
fact  that  in  the  press  of  that  day  no  notice  was  taken 
of  these  bills  except  as  they  were  mentioned  in  the 
list  of  bills  which  had  been  introduced  or  passed.  On 
February  16th  the  act  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  was 
approved,  and  on  the  following  day  the  law  provid- 
ing for  poorhouses  received  the  Governor's  signa- 
ture. 

The  essential  features  of  the  law  for  the  relief  of 


54       POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

the  poor  outside  the  poorhouse  may  be  briefly  sum- 
marized. In  general,  legal  settlement  could  be  ob- 
tained by  a  residence  of  one  year  in  any  township  or, 
in  case  a  person  had  been  warned  to  depart,  by  re- 
maining three  years  after  such  warning  without  hav- 
ing been  warned  again,  or  by  a  residence  of  three 
years  in  the  case  of  servants  and  apprentices.  The 
place  of  settlement  of  a  married  woman  was  that  of 
her  husband,  even  after  his  death.  In  case  the  hus- 
band had  no  settlement,  that  of  the  woman  was  the 
place  where  she  had  her  last  legal  settlement  before 
marriage.  Blacks  and  mulattoes,  as  has  been  noted, 
were  denied  legal  settlement.  Provision  was  made 
that  nothing  in  this  act  should  be  construed  to  pre- 
vent any  one  from  voting  who  had  the  right  to  the 
franchise  under  the  laws  of  the  Territory.  The 
warning  of  persons  suspected  of  becoming  a  charge 
was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  overseers  of  the  poor 
in  each  township.  The  warning  to  depart  was  to  be 
issued  by  them  to  a  constable,  who  was  to  serve  it  and 
make  a  report  of  such  service  to  the  clerk  of  the 
township,  by  whom  the  proper  record  was  to  be 
made. 

When  any  person  entitled  to  relief  was  found  to  be 
suffering  in  a  county  which  had  a  poorhouse,  the 
township  trustees  were  required  to  make  out  an  order 
and  statement  of  facts  as  prescribed  in  the  act  estab- 
lishing poorhouses  enacted  by  this  same  Legislative 
Assembly.  But  in  case  the  county  had  no  poorhouse, 
the  overseers  of  the  poor  were  to  give  such  relief  as 
they  thought  necessary,  or  in  case  more  than  tern- 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  IOWA  55 

porary  relief  was  required,  they  were  to  let  out  the 
relief  of  the  poor  by  contract  for  a  period  of  not 
more  than  one  year. 

This  law  introduced  the  possibility  of  confusion  by 
reason  of  the  fact  that  the  last  section  of  the  act, 
which  provided  that  in  those  counties  which  were  not 
yet  organized  into  townships  the  act  of  1840  should 
remain  in  full  force  and  effect.  It  will  be  recalled 
that  under  that  law  all  poor  relief  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  county  commissioners.  The  effect  of  the  new 
law,  therefore,  was  that  there  were  three  systems  of 
relief  in  operation  at  the  same  time  in  the  Territory 
of  Iowa  —  relief  in  the  poorhouse  in  those  counties 
where  there  was  one,  relief  by  the  overseers  of  the 
poor  in  those  counties  in  which  townships  had  been 
organized  and  in  which  there  was  no  poorhouse,  and 
relief  by  the  county  commissioners  by  means  of  con- 
tracts in  those  counties  in  which  townships  were  not 
organized. 

In  case  the  directors  of  the  poorhouse  refused  to 
receive  and  care  for  any  pauper  sent  to  them,  the 
overseers  of  the  township  sending  him  were  to  pro- 
vide for  his  relief  by  contract. 

The  overseers  were  required  to  provide  temporary 
relief  for  any  needy  person  not  having  a  legal  settle- 
ment in  the  township.  It  was  the  duty  of  the  over- 
seers, however,  to  see  that  such  person  was  sent  back 
to  his  place  of  legal  settlement,  and  the  cost  of  his 
care  paid  by  the  township  where  he  had  a  legal  set- 
tlement, if  necessary  by  action  before  the  district 
court  of  the  county  in  which  either  or  both  townships 


56        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

were  located.  In  case  the  person  had  no  legal  settle- 
ment within  the  Territory,  he  might  be  removed  to 
his  place  of  legal  settlement  by  the  overseers  on  or- 
der of  the  township  trustees. 

Furthermore,  it  was  specified  that  the  overseers 
keep  a  strict  account  of  the  expenses  incurred  by 
them  in  supporting  the  poor  in  their  townships,  as 
well  as  a  record  of  the  names  of  those  aided  and  of 
the  services  rendered  to  such  poor  persons,  and  that 
they  should  present  these  accounts  to  the  township 
trustees  on  the  first  Monday  of  March  in  each  year 
to  be  audited  and  settled.  The  overseers  were  to  be 
allowed  such  compensation  for  their  services  as  the 
trustees  thought  just  and  reasonable. 

The  township  trustees  were  authorized  to  issue 
orders  on  the  township  treasurer  for  the  payment  of 
any  expenses  incurred  in  the  relief  of  the  poor.  They 
were  also  the  custodians  of  any  gifts  or  bequests  for 
the  care  of  the  poor,  under  such  rules  and  regulations 
as  might  be  made  by  law.54 

The  characteristic  features  of  the  poorhouse  law 
approved  on  February  17,  1842,  and  which  was  the 
complement  of  the  outdoor  relief  law,  also  deserve 
some  attention.  Thus  the  county  commissioners  of 
each  county  were  authorized  to  establish  poorhouses 
whenever  they  deemed  such  action  desirable.  They 
had  the  power  to  purchase  as  much  land  for  that  pur- 
pose as  they  thought  necessary,  but  it  was  distinctly 
declared  that  the  cost  of  such  land  and  building 
should  be  met  by  a  tax  levied  for  that  express  pur- 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  IOWA  57 

pose,  to  be  collected  in  the  same  manner  as  other 
county  taxes.  That  is,  future  generations  were  not 
to  be  taxed  through  the  issuance  of  bonds  to  raise 
funds  for  the  establishment  of  these  institutions,  nor 
was  the  present  generation  to  be  loaded  with  that 
expense  by  indirect  methods.  There  was  no  limit  on 
the  amount  of  land  which  could  be  purchased,  as 
there  had  been  in  Michigan. 

A  board  of  directors,  composed  of  three  residents 
of  the  county  appointed  by  the  county  commission- 
ers, had  charge  of  the  poorhouse.  Appointed  for  one 
year,  they  were  required  to  take  an  oath  of  office  and 
to  serve  until  their  successors  were  appointed  and 
qualified.  Moreover,  there  was  to  be  a  clerk  whose 
duties  were  to  be  defined  by  the  board.  This  board 
of  directors  was  a  body  corporate  and  politic  and 
had  complete  control  of  the  poorhouse.  Meetings 
must  be  held  quarterly  and  as  much  oftener  as  the 
needs  of  the  institution  demanded.  The  board  was 
authorized  to  appoint  a  superintendent  who  should 
have  immediate  charge  of  the  institution,  but  should 
be  under  the  strict  control  of  the  board. 

The  superintendent  could  require  reasonable  labor 
from  the  inmates  of  the  institution ;  and  he  could  re- 
ceive such  persons  only  as  produced  a  voucher  signed 
by  the  township  trustees  or  by  the  county  commis- 
sioners, accompanied  by  a  statement  signed  by  those 
authorities  giving  a  list  of  specified  facts  about  the 
applicant  for  relief,  and  accompanied  also  by  an  or- 
der from  a  member  of  the  board  of  directors  to  admit 
such  person  to  the  poorhouse. 


58        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

The  directors  were  to  provide  that  the  poorhouse 
should  be  visited  at  least  once  a  month  by  one  of 
their  number,  who  should  make  a  report  of  the  condi- 
tion of  the  institution  and  of  the  inmates  to  the  board 
at  its  next  meeting.  The  directors,  in  turn,  were  to 
report  to  the  county  commissioners  in  detail  con- 
cerning their  work. 

The  expenses  of  maintaining  the  poorhouse,  as 
well  as  the  cost  of  its  establishment,  were  to  be  paid 
out  of  the  county  treasury  on  the  order  of  the  county 
commissioners.  The  directors  were  also  to  issue  or- 
ders on  the  county  commissioners  for  the  expense  in- 
curred by  a  township  or  individual  in  removing  to 
the  poorhouse  a  pauper  who  was  legally  a  county 
charge  or  in  caring  for  him  before  he  could  be  re- 
moved thither.  The  county  commissioners  were  to 
draw  their  order  on  the  county  treasurer  for  the 
amount. 

It  was  also  provided  that  the  directors  were  to  bind 
out  all  the  poor  children  in  the  poorhouse,  on  the 
terms  prescribed  by  the  act  governing  apprentices 
and  servants. 

Another  power  given  to  the  directors  was  the  au- 
thority to  remove  any  person  who  might  get  into 
the  poorhouse,  but  whose  legal  settlement  was  in  an- 
other county,  State,  or  Territory,  to  his  proper  place 
of  settlement  in  the  same  way  as  the  overseers  of  the 
poor  removed  those  who  had  no  legal  settlement  in 
the  township.  The  act  also  contained  provisions  for 
the  discharge  of  persons  who  had  been  admitted  to 
the  poorhouse  because  of  bodily  infirmity  or  sickness, 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  IOWA  59 

when  in  the  opinion  of  the  directors  such  persons  had 
so  far  recovered  as  to  be  able  to  support  them- 
selves. The  directors  were  to  provide  care  for  those 
who  were  liable  to  be  sent  to  the  poorhouse  but  who 
could  not  be  removed  at  once  because  of  sickness. 

In  case  the  ordinary  revenue  of  the  county  was  in- 
sufficient to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  this  act,  the 
county  commissioners  were  authorized  to  levy  a 
special  tax  of  one  mill  on  the  dollar  for  the  relief  of 
the  poor  to  be  levied  and  collected  with  the  other 
taxes. 

The  directors  of  the  poorhouse  were  to  be  allowed 
such  pay  for  their  services  by  the  county  commis- 
sioners as  the  latter  thought  reasonable,  not  exceed- 
ing one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  a  day  each  for  every 
day  necessarily  employed  in  their  duties.55 

Both  of  these  laws  were  copied  from  the  Ohio  stat- 
utes of  1831,  with  but  few  changes.  A  few  sections 
in  parallel  columns  will  reveal  this  fact  better  than 
any  comparative  discussion  could  do.  First,  the 
close  resemblance  of  the  Iowa  law  on  poor  relief  out- 
side of  the  poorhouse  to  the  Ohio  act  of  March  14, 
1831,  will  be  seen  from  the  following  sections : 56 

THE    OUT-RELIEF    ACT    OP  THE    OUT-RELIEF    ACT    OF 

OHIO,  MARCH  14,  1831  IOWA,  FEBRUARY  16, 1842 

SECTION  1.    Be  it  enacted,  SECTION  1.    Be  it  enacted 

That  any  person  or  persons,  6t/  the  Council  and  House  of 

other  than  those  hereinafter  Representatives  of  the  Terri- 

provided   for,   residing  one  tory  of  Iowa,  That  any  per- 

year  in  any  township  in  this  son  or  persons,  other  than 


60 


POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 


state,  without  being  warned 
by  the  overseers  of  the  poor 
for  said  township  to  depart 
the  same;  or  three  years  af- 
ter being  once  so  warned, 
without  being  again  warned 
as  aforesaid,  shall  be  consid- 
ered as  having  gained  a  legal 
settlement  in  such  township ; 
every  indented  servant  or 
apprentice,  legally  brought 
into  this  state,  shall  obtain  a 
legal  settlement  in  the  town- 
ship where  such  servant  or 
apprentice  first  served  his 
master  or  mistress  three 
years;  and  every  married 
woman,  during  coverture, 
and  after  her  husband's 
death,  shall  be  considered 
legally  settled  in  the  place 
where  he  was  last  legally 
settled ;  but  if  he  shall  have, 
or  shall  have  had,  no  known 
legal  settlement,  then  she 
shall  be  considered  as  settled 
in  the  place  where  she  was 
last  legally  settled  before 
marriage. 


SECTION  2.     That  nothing 


those  hereinafter  provided 
for,  residing  one  year  in  any 
township  in  this  Territory, 
without  being  warned  by  the 
overseers  of  the  poor  for  said 
township,  to  depart  the  same 
or  three  years  after  being 
once  so  warned,  without  be- 
ing again  warned  as  afore- 
said, shall  be  considered  as 
having  gained  a  legal  resi- 
dence in  such  township ;  ev- 
ery indented  servant  or  ap- 
prentice legally  brought  in- 
to this  Territory,  shall  ob- 
tain a  legal  settlement  in  the 
township  where  such  servant 
or  apprentice  first  served  his 
master  or  mistress  three 
years;  and  every  married 
woman  during  coverture, 
and  after  her  husbands 
death,  shall  be  considered 
legally  settled  in  the  place 
where  he  was  last  legally 
settled ;  but  if  he  shall  have, 
or  shall  have  had,  no  known 
legal  settlement,  then  she 
shall  be  considered  as  settled 
in  the  place  where  she  was 
last  legally  settled  before 
marriage. 

SEC.  2.     That  nothing  in 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  IOWA 


61 


in  this  act  shall  be  so  con- 
strued as  to  enable  any  black 
or  mulatto  person  to  gain  a 
legal  settlement  in  this  state. 

SECTION  3.  That  the  pro- 
visions of  the  first  section  of 
this  act  shall  not  be  so  con- 
strued, as  to  exclude  any 
person  from  voting  at  elec- 
tions, who  would  otherwise, 
by  the  constitutions  and  laws 
of  this  state,  be  entitled  to 
vote.  —  Chase's  Statutes  of 
Ohio,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  1832. 


this  act  shall  be  so  construed, 
as  to  enable  any  black  or 
mulatto  person  to  gain  a  le- 
gal settlement  in  this  Terri- 
tory. 

SEC.  3.  That  the  provi- 
sions of  this  first  section  of 
this  act,  shall  not  be  so  con- 
strued as  to  exclude  any  per- 
son from  voting  at  elections, 
who  would  otherwise  by  the 
laws  of  this  Territory  be  en- 
titled to  vote. —  Laws  of  the 
Territory  of  Iowa,  1841- 
1842,  p.  58. 


Again,  the  first  poorhouse  law  of  the  Territory  of 
Iowa  closely  resembles  the  Ohio  poorhouse  law  of 
1831,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  following  sections : 


THE  OHIO  ACT  OP  MARCH  8, 

1831 

SECTION  1.  Be  it  enacted, 
&c.  That  the  commission- 
ers of  each  and  every  county 
within  this  state,  shall  be, 
and  they  are  hereby,  author- 
ized to  erect  and  establish 
poor-houses  within  their  re- 
spective counties,  whenever 
in  their  opinion,  such  a  mea- 
sure will  be  proper  and  ad- 
vantageous; and  for  that 
purpose  it  shall  be  lawful 


THE  IOWA  ACT  OP  FEBRUARY 

17,  1842 

SECTION  1.  Be  it  enacted 
&y  the  Council  and  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  Ter- 
ritory of  Iowa,  That  the 
county  commissioners  of 
each  and  every  county  with- 
in this  Territory,  shall  be, 
and  they  are  hereby  author- 
ized, to  erect  and  establish 
poor  houses  within  their  re- 
spective counties,  whenever 
in  their  opinion,  such  a  mea- 


62        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 


for  the  said  commissioners, 
to  purchase  such  lot  or  tract 
of  land  as  they  may  judge 
necessary  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  the  institution: 
Provided,  that  if  the  com- 
missioners of  any  county 
shall  think  proper  to  pur- 
chase land,  and  erect  a 
county  poor-house  under  the 
provisions  of  this  act,  the 
expense  of  such  purchase 
and  erection  shall  be  defray- 
ed by  a  tax  levied  on  the  ob- 
jects of  county  taxation  for 
that  express  purpose ;  which 
tax  shall  be  collected  and 
paid  over  in  the  same  man- 
ner that  other  taxes  are  col- 
lected. 

SECTION  6.  That  the 
board  of  directors  shall, 
yearly,  and  every  year,  re- 
port to  the  commissioners  of 
the  county,  the  state  of  the 
institution,  with  a  full  and 
correct  account  of  all  their 
proceedings,  contracts  and 
disbursements:  and  the  ex- 
pense of  establishing  and 
supporting  the  institution, 
shall  be  paid  on  the  order  of 
the  county  auditor,  by  the 


sure  will  be  proper  and  ad- 
vantageous, and  for  that 
purpose  it  shall  be  lawful 
for  said  commissioners,  to 
purchase  such  lot  or  tract  of 
land,  as  they  may  deem  nec- 
essary for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  the  institution :  Pro- 
vided that  if  the  commission- 
ers of  any  county  shall  think 
proper  to  purchase  land  and 
erect  a  poor  house  under  the 
provisions  of  this  act,  the  ex- 
pense of  such  purchase  and 
erection,  shall  be  defrayed 
by  a  tax  levied  on  the  gen- 
eral assessment  roll  for  that 
express  purpose,  and  collect- 
ed and  paid  over  in  the  same 
manner  that  other  taxes  are. 
SEC.  6.  That  the  board  of 
directors  shall  annually  re- 
port to  the  commissioners  of 
the  county,  the  state  of  the 
institution,  with  a  full  and 
correct  account  of  all  their 
proceedings,  contracts,  and 
disbursements,  and  the  ex- 
penses of  establishing  and 
supporting  the  institution, 
shall  be  paid  on  the  order  of 
county  commissioners  out  of 
any  money  in  the  county 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  IOWA  63 

direction  of  the  commission-  treasury,  not  otherwise  ap- 

ers,  out  of  any  money  in  the  propriated. —  Laws    of    the 

county  treasury  not  other-  Territory    of    Iowa,    1841- 

wise  appropriated. — Chase's  1842,  pp.  83,  84. 
Statutes  of  Ohio,  Vol.  Ill, 
pp.  1829,  1830. 

The  correspondence  between  the  other  sections  of 
these  two  laws  is  as  close  as  between  the  sections 
above  paralleled. 

Departing  from  the  simplicity  of  the  former  law, 
adopted  from  Wisconsin,  these  laws  represented 
from  one  point  of  view  a  stage  of  development  in  lo- 
cal government  which  Iowa  had  not  yet  reached,  for 
they  contemplated  thorough  township  organization 
throughout  the  region  to  which  they  applied.  So  ap- 
parent was  their  lack  of  adaptation  to  local  condi- 
tions in  the  Territory  of  Iowa  that  a  section  was 
added  to  the  act  concerning  the  relief  of  the  poor  as 
passed  in  Iowa,  providing  that  the  law  should  apply 
only  in  those  counties  where  townships  had  been  or- 
ganized. 

From  another  point  of  view,  this  legislation  repre- 
sented a  retrogression.  When  these  acts  were  adopt- 
ed in  Ohio  the  device  of  uniting  the  two  methods  of 
caring  for  the  poor  by  the  outdoor  or  contract 
method  and  by  poorhouses  had  not  yet  been  hit  upon. 
A  comprehensive  statute,  including  provisions  for 
both  methods  of  caring  for  the  poor,  was  the  work  of 
Michigan  legislators,  as  has  already  been  noticed. 
This  statute  was  virtually  copied  in  the  Wisconsin 
law,  which  in  turn  was  followed  in  the  first  Iowa  act. 


64        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

Thus  in  enacting  the  legislation  of  1842  the  Iowa 
Legislative  Assembly  went  back  to  old,  outworn 
methods. 

Moreover,  this  return  to  the  earlier  legislation  of 
Ohio  for  models  not  only  substituted  complexity  for 
simplicity,  separate  laws  for  a  comprehensive  stat- 
ute, and  laws  poorly  adapted  to  the  stage  of  develop- 
ment reached  in  Iowa  for  a  law  admirably  suited  to 
conditions,  but  it  also  meant  the  return  to  a  system 
and  a  method  which  had  shown  themselves  to  be  un- 
suited  even  to  Ohio,  a  much  older  and  more  developed 
Commonwealth.  The  system  of  poor  relief  which 
these  laws  introduced  was  cumbersome  and  un- 
wieldy. It  possessed  an  involved  machinery  which 
was  not  easy  to  operate  even  where  the  government 
was  far  enough  developed  to  carry  it  out.  Divided 
responsibility  had  been  long  tried,  with  the  result 
that  the  Territories  of  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and 
Iowa  (in  the  first  act)  had  turned  to  a  simpler  and 
more  practical  system. 

In  the  Ohio  legislation  reenacted  in  Iowa  in  1842 
there  was  that  involved  division  of  responsibility 
and  labor  which  appeals  strongly  to  the  political  doc- 
trinaire, but  which  is  not  practical  in  actual  opera- 
tion. A  regular  hierarchy  of  authorities  to  have 
charge  of  the  care  of  the  poor  was  provided  for  in 
these  laws.  The  county  commissioners  established 
poorhouses  and  paid  the  expense  of  the  erection  and 
maintenance  of  such  institutions.  They  appointed  a 
board  of  directors  who  turned  over  the  actual  man- 
agement of  the  poorhouses  to  a  superintendent.  The 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  IOWA  65 

directors  were  to  appoint  one  of  their  number  to  in- 
spect the  poorhouse  and  report  back  to  them;  and 
they  in  turn  were  to  report  to  the  county  commis- 
sioners. It  should  be  remembered  that  these  laws 
were  enacted,  not  for  a  State  with  a  population  of 
millions,  but  for  a  thinly  settled  Territory  in  what 
was  then  the  far  West  during  the  first  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  They  certainly  were  not  de- 
vised for  the  convenience  of  those  unfortunates  who 
were  supposed  to  get  relief  for  their  needs  through 
these  complex  arrangements. 

So  illy,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  did  the  law  of  Febru- 
ary 16,  1842,  suit  the  needs  of  the  young  Territory 
that  two  years  later  the  Legislative  Assembly 
passed  an  act,  approved  on  February  12,  1844,  which 
amended  the  statute  of  1842  by  providing  that  all 
costs  of  relieving  the  poor  should  be  paid,  not  out  of 
the  township  treasury,  but  out  of  the  county  treas- 
ury, and  that  the  accounts  were  to  be  audited  by  the 
county  commissioners  instead  of  by  the  township 
trustees.57  Finally,  on  June  5,  1845,  an  act  was  ap- 
proved which  made  the  township  trustees  the  over- 
seers of  the  poor  in  their  respective  townships.58 
Both  of  these  amendments  were  departures  from  the 
complexity  of  the  laws  borrowed  from  Ohio  and  steps 
in  the  direction  of  the  simplicity  of  the  first  Iowa 
statute. 

The  poor  laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  both  for 
indoor  and  outdoor  relief,  were  copies  of  laws  al- 
ready in  existence.  No  new  experiments  were  tried. 


66        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

No  new  developments  were  made.  Iowa  first  tried 
the  Wisconsin  law,  which  had  an  honorable  ancestry, 
and  then  went  to  the  statute  books  of  Ohio  and  got 
two  laws  which  were  adopted  almost  literally.  And 
yet,  the  poor  laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  even 
though  not  original,  were  made  up  of  selections  from 
many  different  laws.  In  the  course  of  development 
from  the  early  days  of  the  Northwest  Territory  down 
to  the  time  when  the  first  law  was  enacted  in  Iowa 
many  experiments  had  been  tried.  In  the  furnace  of 
actual  experience  on  the  frontier,  the  laws  first 
adopted  from  the  original  States  had  been  tested, 
and  out  from  that  trial  they  had  emerged  with  some 
of  their  original  features  modified,  with  some  new 
features  added,  and  with  some  entirely  gone.  The 
unfortunate  thing  is  that  experience  should  not  have 
been  consulted  more  fully  before  the  adoption  in 
Iowa  in  1842  of  the  laws  borrowed  from  Ohio. 

It  may  be  profitable  at  this  point  to  compare  the 
first  pieces  of  poor  relief  legislation  in  the  Territory 
of  Iowa  with  each  other. 

The  law  copied  from  Ohio  resembled  the  first  Iowa 
poor  law  in  the  matter  of  outdoor  relief  in  that  it  re- 
quired one  year's  residence  to  establish  legal  settle- 
ment and  had  much  the  same  provisions  concerning 
the  way  in  which  a  non-resident  pauper  should  be 
warned  to  leave  the  township  or  county.  It  required 
the  poor  authorities  to  render  temporary  relief  to 
non-resident  paupers.  And  finally,  it  made  provision 
for  the  farming  out  of  the  support  of  those  paupers 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  IOWA  67 

who  must  be  maintained  outside  the  poorhouse  for 
more  than  mere  temporary  support. 

The  act  of  February  16,  1842,  however,  differed 
from  the  first  Iowa  law  in  many  more  points  than  it 
agreed  with  that  statute.  In  the  first  place,  it  con- 
tained several  additional  provisions  in  regard  to  set- 
tlement. Not  only  must  the  needy  person  have  re- 
sided one  year  in  a  place,  but  he  must  have  resided 
there  three  years  after  having  been  warned  once  to 
depart.  An  indented  servant  or  apprentice  secured 
a  residence  for  the  purposes  of  relief  when  he  had 
served  his  master  or  mistress  three  years  in  a  single 
place.  Provision  was  made  for  determining  the  set- 
tlement of  married  women  who  applied  for  relief; 
while  any  mulatto  or  black  person  was  prohibited 
from  ever  securing  a  legal  settlement  in  the  Terri- 
tory. Again,  the  poor  law  of  1842  made  the  town- 
ship the  unit  of  relief  in  all  counties  where  town- 
ships had  been  organized.  Consequently,  the  town- 
ship trustees  and  the  overseers  of  the  poor  became 
the  relief  authorities  rather  than  the  county  commis- 
sioners. The  sections  relative  to  the  support  of 
paupers  by  their  relatives  were  omitted,  and  there 
were  no  provisions  for  the  care  of  minor  paupers, 
such  as  the  law  of  1840  contained.  Moreover,  it  was 
provided  that  if  the  support  of  the  poor  was  farmed 
out  the  contract  should  not  be  let  for  a  period  ex- 
ceeding one  year.  Provision  was  made  for  the  collec- 
tion of  the  costs  of  supporting  a  pauper  having  no 
legal  settlement  from  the  county  or  township  where 


68        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

such  pauper  had  a  settlement,  and  there  was  the 
stipulation  that  if  the  pauper  furnished  security  to 
the  county  he  need  not  be  removed  from  the  town- 
ship. Finally,  there  was  a  section  on  bequests  and 
gifts  for  the  use  of  the  poor  which  was  lacking  in  the 
former  Iowa  law. 

The  law  of  1842  concerning  poorhouses  agreed 
with  the  act  of  1840  in  that  the  county  commissioners 
might  establish  poorhouses  whenever  they  thought  it 
advisable.  It  differed  from  the  earlier  law  in  its 
much  greater  detail  and  greatly  increased  complex- 
ity, as  follows:  (1)  it  provided  that  if  the  commis- 
sioners decided  to  establish  a  poorhouse  the  neces- 
sary money  was  to  be  secured  by  a  special  tax  for 
that  express  purpose;  (2)  provision  was  made  for 
the  appointment  of  a  board  of  three  directors  to  con- 
trol and  manage  the  poorhouse,  for  the  organization 
of  this  board,  and  for  the  making  by  them  of  rules 
and  regulations  for  the  government  of  the  institu- 
tion; (3)  provision  was  made  for  the  appointment  of 
a  superintendent  by  this  board  of  directors,  who 
should  reside  either  in  the  poorhouse  itself  or  in  some 
adjoining  building,  and  his  duties  were  stated;  (4)  a 
monthly  visit  to  the  poorhouse  by  a  member  of  the 
board  of  directors,  and  an  annual  report  by  the  board 
to  the  county  commissioners  concerning  the  state  of 
the  poorhouse  and  all  their  proceedings,  contracts, 
purchases,  etc.,  were  required;  (5)  the  section  im- 
posing a  fine  upon  any  person  who  brought  a  pauper 
into  the  county  was  omitted ;  (6)  the  directors,  rather 
than  the  county  commissioners  as  in  the  former  act, 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  IOWA  69 

were  given  the  power  to  bind  out  pauper  children  as 
apprentices;  (7)  there  were  full  and  explicit  direc- 
tions as  to  who  should  be  admitted  to  the  poorhouse ; 
(8)  full  provision  was  made  for  the  removal  to  his 
place  of  legal  settlement  of  any  person  not  a  legal 
resident  who  might  have  found  his  way  into  any 
poorhouse ;  (9)  provision  was  made  for  the  discharge 
of  any  inmate  who  had  been  received  because  of  sick- 
ness; (10)  authority  was  granted  to  levy  a  special 
poor  tax  of  not  more  than  one  mill  on  the  dollar  in 
case  the  ordinary  revenue  did  not  provide  sufficient 
funds  with  which  to  maintain  the  poorhouse;  and 
(11)  a  section  was  inserted  providing  for  the  com- 
pensation of  the  members  of  the  board  of  directors. 

There  is  a  paucity  of  data  to  explain  why  the 
Legislative  Assembly  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa 
turned  away  from  the  legislation  which  had  been 
worked  out  in  the  frontier  Territories  of  Michigan 
and  "Wisconsin  and  went  directly  to  the  laws  of  Ohio, 
a  much  more  developed  community  in  every  way. 
It  may  be  assumed,  however,  that  it  was  due  to  the 
influence  of  the  Ohio  laws  which  were  fresh  in  the 
minds  of  men,  like  Governor  Robert  Lucas,  who  had 
but  recently  come  from  Ohio,  and  to  the  availability 
of  these  models  in  Chase's  Statutes  of  Ohio,  which 
were  to  be  found  both  in  the  Territorial  library  and 
in  the  private  library  of  Governor  Lucas.  Other  rea- 
sons for  this  apparent  retrogression  have  not  yet 
been  discovered. 

While  final  judgment  should  be  passed  only  in  the 
light  of  a  study  of  the  way  in  which  these  two  laws 


70        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

actually  worked  out  in  practical  administration,  with 
the  evidence  at  hand  it  must  be  a  matter  of  regret 
that  the  Legislative  Assembly  of  the  Territory  of 
Iowa  did  not  simply  adapt  the  law  borrowed  from 
Wisconsin  Territory  a  little  more  closely  to  local 
needs  in  Iowa  by  amendatory  acts  rather  than  ree'n- 
act  a  law  better  suited  to  the  more  complex  social 
conditions  of  a  State  like  Ohio. 


A  GENERAL  SURVEY  OF  POOR  RELIEF 

LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

1846-1914 

During  the  years  immediately  preceding  and  im- 
mediately following  the  admission  of  Iowa  into  the 
Union  other  interests  than  such  subjects  as  the  care 
of  the  poor  engrossed  the  attention  of  the  legislators. 
In  the  first  place,  the  strife  of  political  parties  was 
strong.  Each  party  was  playing  politics  to  gain  con- 
trol of  the  State  government  and,  therefore,  almost 
every  legislative  measure  was  passed  by  a  strict 
party  vote.  The  fate  of  practically  every  bill  that 
was  introduced  was  determined  so  far  as  committee 
action  was  concerned  by  the  question  of  party  ad- 
vantage. 

Furthermore,  the  questions  which  concerned  the 
legislators  were  quite  different  from  those  of  the 
present  day.  The  Territorial  legislatures  spent  a 
considerable  part  of  their  time  in  passing  special 
legislation.  For  example,  they  granted  divorces; 
they  were  concerned  with  the  passage  of  acts  laying 
out  Territorial  roads ;  and  they  authorized  the  pay- 
ment of  bills  which  would  now  be  handled  through 
an  administrative  department.  Large  numbers  of 
acts  were  passed  legalizing  the  proceedings  of  boards 

71 


72        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

of  county  commissioners,  boards  of  election,  and 
other  officials  who  were  not  too  familiar  with  the  du- 
ties required  of  them  by  law.  By  special  acts  the 
legislature  incorporated  all  kinds  of  business  enter- 
prises, established  ferries  and  bridges,  permitted  the 
establishment  of  mills,  incorporated  institutions  of 
learning  as  well  as  cities  and  villages,  besides  pro- 
viding for  the  organization  of  new  counties  and  town- 
ships, and  passing  laws  for  the  government  of  a  new 
country.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  Organic  Law 
of  the  Territory  provided  for  the  extension  of  the 
laws  of  Michigan  and  Wisconsin  over  the  new  Terri- 
tory until  such  time  as  the  legislature  should  pass 
substitutes,  there  was  such  pressing  need  of  legisla- 
tion on  almost  every  subject  that  the  matter  of  the 
relief  of  the  poor  received  scant  consideration. 

Again,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  the  interests  of  the 
people  during  the  State-building  stage  in  Iowa  were 
not  so  much  humanitarian  as  political  in  character. 
Those  were  the  days  of  the  pioneer,  of  individualism, 
of  rough  and  ready  independence,  and  while  needy 
individuals  were  supplied  with  ready  hospitality, 
there  had  not  yet  developed  a  sense  of  community  re- 
sponsibility for  the  relief  of  those  elements  of  the 
population  which  were  either  unfortunate  or  lacking 
in  the  qualities  necessary  to  the  gaining  of  a  liveli- 
hood. 

Under  these  circumstances  it  is  easy  to  understand 
why  there  were  so  few  measures  relating  to  the  relief 
of  the  poor  introduced  into  the  Territorial  legisla- 
tures and  the  early  General  Assemblies  of  the  State. 


LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA  1846-1914  73 

Neither  is  it  so  inexplicable  why  the  laws  that  were 
passed  were  not  the  result  of  independent  and  care- 
ful thought. 

The  first  Constitution  of  the  new  State  of  Iowa 
provided  that  "  All  the  laws  now  in  force  in  this  Ter- 
ritory, which  are  not  repugnant  to  this  constitution, 
shall  remain  in  force  until  they  expire  by  their  own 
limitations,  or  be  altered  or  repealed  by  the  General 
Assembly  of  this  State."  59  Thus,  the  poor  laws  en- 
acted by  the  Territorial  legislature  in  1842  remained 
in  force  in  the  State.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  no  laws  of 
importance  in  the  history  of  poor  relief  legislation 
were  passed  in  Iowa  between  the  year  1842  and  the 
adoption  of  the  Code  of  1&51. 

The  only  legislation  relative  to  poor  relief  enacted 
between  1846  and  1851  were  special  acts  providing 
for  the  building  and  managing  of  poorhouses  in  the 
counties  of  Lee  and  Des  Moines.  These  acts  had  for 
their  purpose  the  abrogation  of  those  parts  of  the 
law  of  1842  which  prescribed  the  procedure  for  pur- 
chasing land  and  building  thereon  a  poorhouse,60  the 
compelling  of  the  county  commissioners  to  purchase 
land  for  a  poor  farm,  and  the  repeal  of  the  part  of 
the  law  respecting  the  appointment  of  a  board  of  di- 
rectors to  govern  the  institution.61 

Following  the  adoption  of  these  laws  came  a  series 
of  special  acts  endeavoring  to  restore  the  applica- 
tion of  the  law  of  1842  to  Des  Moines  County ; 62  to 
secure  uniformity  of  action  in  the  two  counties ; 68 
and  finally,  to  undo  the  legislative  tangle  produced 


74       POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

by  these  contradictory  acts64  and  thus  revive  the 
special  modification  of  the  Ohio-Iowa  law.65  As  a 
matter  of  fact  these  special  acts  suspending  the  op- 
eration of  the  law  of  1842  which  was  borrowed  from 
Ohio  and  was  still  in  force  in  Iowa,  offer  a  significant 
commentary  upon  the  inadaptability  of  the  Ohio  law 
to  the  Iowa  situation,88  and  especially  that  part  of  it 
which  related  to  a  board  of  directors  for  the  poor- 
house. 

In  addition  to  these  special  acts,  on  January  25, 
1848,  the  Second  General  Assembly  passed  a  joint 
resolution  instructing  the  representatives  of  Iowa  in 
Congress  "to  use  their  best  endeavors  to  procure  a 
donation  of  five  sections  of  land  out  of  any  lands  be- 
longing to  the  General  Government  not  yet  disposed 
of,  in  or  near  the  township  of  Fairview  in  said 
[Jones]  county,  or  in  the  adjoining  county  of  Linn, 
near  the  same  township,  as  a  commissioner  appoint- 
ed for  that  purpose  may  select,  for  the  use  of  an 
Orphan  Asylum  and  Manual  Labor  School."  The 
resolution  provided  also  that  these  lands  were  to  re- 
main a  perpetual  donation,  the  use  and  rent  of  which 
were  to  be  applied  to  the  benefit  of  poor  orphan  chil- 
dren and  such  other  indigent  persons  as  should  be 
admitted  to  the  institution  as  objects  of  charity. 
There  is  no  evidence,  however,  that  favorable  action 
was  taken  by  Congress  on  this  joint  resolution.67 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  only  significance  of 
the  poor  relief  legislation  of  this  period  is  to  show 
how  ill-adapted  the  law  of  1842  was  to  the  needs  of 
those  counties  which  were  ready  to  erect  poorhouses, 


LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA  1846-1914  75 

and  to  indicate  the  small  consideration  which  laws 
for  the  relief  of  the  poor  received  in  those  days. 

The  Code  of  3.851  was  the  outgrowth  of  a  convic- 
tion which  had  been  growing  for  some  time  in  Iowa 
that  a  systematic  arrangement  of  the  existing  law  of 
the  State  was  absolutely  necessary.  So  keenly  was 
it  felt  that  the  best  talent  available  should  be  se- 
cured for  the  work  of  codification  that,  in  spite  of 
political  strife,  the  commission  finally  chosen  was  one 
" eminently  qualified  for  the  task",  being  composed 
of  Charles  Mason,  William  Gr.  Woodward,  and  Ste- 
phen Hempstead.68 

In  general,  the  work  of  the  commission  which  pre- 
pared the  Code  of  1851,  stands  out  as  a  model  of  its 
kind.  In  part  the  new  code  was  an  orderly  codifica- 
tion of  already  existing  laws ;  in  part  it  consisted  of 
new  laws.  Its  influence,  says  an  eminent  jurist,  has 
been  so  great  that  while  its  sections  * '  have  been  over- 
laid with  subsequent  legislation,  they  have  been 
largely  retained  in  the  Revision  of  1860,  the  Code  of 
1873  and  the  Code  of  1897,  as  the  best  statement  of 
that  portion  of  the  law  which  they  were  intended  to 
cover."69  Without  doubt  the  poor  relief  law  as 
found  in  the  Code  of  1851  has  been  the  dominant  in- 
fluence in  all  subsequent  legislation  upon  that  subject 
in  this  State. 

The  table  of  the  various  sections  of  the  Code  of 
1851  relative  to  the  relief  of  the  poor  to  be  found  in 
the  Appendix  will  make  clearer  the  range  of  sources 
from  which  these  provisions  were  obtained.  A  brief 
perusal  of  this  table  reveals  to  what  a  degree  the 


76        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

poor  relief  law  contained  in  the  Code  of  1/351  was  a 
summary  of  the  legislation  with  which  the  people 
inhabiting  Iowa  were  more  or  less  familiar,  and  in 
what  sense  the  codifiers  drew  up  a  new  law  adapted 
to  the  needs  of  a  new  community.  The  comparison 
also  reveals  the  debt  which  the  code  commissioners 
owed  to  the  rich  collections  of  statute  law  to  be  found 
in  the  statute  books  of  Michigan  and  Ohio;  and  it 
shows  how  much  new  material  was  incorporated  into 
the  Code  and  what  liberty  was  taken  in  rearrange- 
ment. 

Chapter  forty-eight  of  the  Code  of  1851,  on  "The 
Settlement  and  Support  of  the  Poor",  was  divided 
into  four  parts  or  articles.  Article  one  dealt  with 
"The  support  of  poor  persons  by  their  kindred"; 
article  two  with  "Legal  Settlements";  article  three 
with  "Relief  of  the  Poor  where  there  is  no  Poor 
House";  and  article  four  with  "Eelief  of  the  Poor 
where  there  is  a  Poor  House".  Under  the  first 
article  there  were  twenty-two  sections ;  under  the  sec- 
ond, eleven;  under  the  third,  nine;  and  under  the 
last,  twenty  —  a  total  of  sixty-two  sections  as  com- 
pared with  thirty-two  in  the  longest  act  in  the  Ohio 
statutes,  that  of  1795.  At  the  same  time,  consider- 
ing the  number  of  subjects  covered,  this  was  the  most 
comprehensive,  and  yet  the  briefest,  piece  of  legisla- 
tion for  the  relief  of  the  poor  passed  up  to  this  time 
in  any  of  the  States  and  Territories  which  have  come 
within  the  scope  of  this  study. 

One  of  the  chief  characteristics  of  the  legislation 


LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA  1846-1914  77 

of  the  Code  of  1851  is  the  vesting  of  primary  author- 
ity in  the  county  judge.  This  is  a  feature  not  pecu- 
liar, however,  to  the  sections  on  the  relief  of  the 
poor,  for  the  county  judge  was  now  made  the  central 
figure  in  all  phases  of  local  administration.  In  this 
respect  the  Code  of  1/851  represented  in  poor  relief  a 
retrogression  to  a  method  which  had  not  found  favor 
with  those  who  had  given  most  thought  to  the  ex- 
perience of  those  States  where  it  had  been  tried, 
namely,  the  system  of  administering  poor  relief  pri- 
marily through  the  courts.  Provision  was  made  for 
the  mixed  system  of  relief :  first,  support  by  kindred 
where  there  were  such  who  could  be  compelled  to 
care  for  their  pauper  relatives;  second,  relief  by 
means  of  the  poorhouse  where  such  an  institution  ex- 
isted, except  in  cases  where  some  other  plan  seemed 
desirable  to  the  judge ;  third,  the  farming  out  of  the 
care  of  the  poor  to  the  highest  bidder  when  that 
method  commended  itself  to  the  judge ;  and  fourth, 
relief  by  means  of  money  to  be  used  by  needy  per- 
sons in  their  homes  when  that  method  was  as  econ- 
omical and  seemed  best.70 

Again,  the  law  of  1851  was  characterized  by  a  re- 
markable blending  of  the  chief  features  worked  out 
by  Ohio  and  Michigan  into  a  new  plan  in  which  the 
county  judge  was  the  dominant  figure.  In  this  re- 
spect the  law  was  prophetic  of  the  tendency  to  con- 
centrate authority  which  has  been  growing  in  more 
recent  years.  To  be  sure,  the  township  trustees  were 
required  to  help  the  judge  in  administering  the  law 
in  the  townships.  To  them  the  pauper  made  applica- 


78        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

tion,  but  they  in  their  turn  must  report  the  case  at 
once  to  the  county  judge  and  warn  from  the  town- 
ship those  paupers  who  had  no  settlement  therein.71 
There  were  to  be  directors  of  the  poorhouse,  but  the 
appointment  of  these  officers,  in  case  the  county  had 
a  poorhouse,  was  made  optional  with  the  county 
judge.72  If  appointed,  the  directors  were  to  have 
most  of  the  powers,  and  were  hedged  about  with 
many  of  the  limitations,  found  in  the  Ohio  and  Michi- 
gan laws  and  the  earlier  laws  of  Iowa.73 

On  the  other  hand,  the  law  contained  many  fea- 
tures not  found  in  the  statutes  thus  far  discussed, 
such  as  new  provisions  concerning  the  support  of 
paupers  by  relatives,  the  continuance  of  a  settlement 
once  gained  until  a  new  one  was  obtained,  the  change 
of  venue  in  cases  of  appeals,  the  removal  of  paupers 
from  a  place  where  they  had  no  settlement  to  their 
place  of  settlement  at  their  own  request,  a  system  of 
espionage  over  the  contractors  caring  for  the  poor, 
and  the  creation  of  the  position  of  steward  of  the 
poorhouse  —  which  was  but  a  new  name  for  an  old 
office.74  The  clearness  of  statement  was  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  features  of  the  Code  of  1851.  The 
short,  pointed  sections,  the  lack  of  ambiguity,  and  the 
close  relation  between  the  parts  made  it  a  model  code 
of  poor  relief  legislation.  Moreover,  the  strong  cen- 
tralization of  power  in  the  county  judge  removed  the 
danger  of  confusion  otherwise  imminent  in  a  code  so 
complex  in  its  origin. 

The  code  commissioners,  however,  were  not  de- 
pendent entirely  either  upon  the  laws  of  the  North- 


LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA  1846-1914  79 

west  Territory  and  of  Michigan  and  Wisconsin,  or 
upon  the  early  legislation  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa. 
A  diligent  search  has  been  made  for  the  origin  of  that 
peculiar  feature  of  the  Code,  the  county  judge  sys- 
tem. Numerous  suggestions  have  been  made.  One 
writer  has  suggested  that  it  originated  simply  as  an 
extension  and  concentration  of  the  powers  of  the 
county  commissioners  combined  with  those  of  the 
probate  judge.75  Another  investigator  suggests  that 
it  was  an  imitation  of  the  county  court  system  of 
colonial  Virginia.76  Still  another  writer  has  stated 
that  a  correspondent  of  the  Burlington  Tri-WeeTdy 
Telegraph,  in  replying  to  another  correspondent, 
made  a  rather  direct  suggestion  that  the  county 
judge  was  a  feature  borrowed  from  some  other 
State ; 7T  but  no  data  has  been  discovered  thus  far  to 
indicate  what  State  was  meant.  Indeed,  no  direct 
evidence  has  been  presented  to  show  upon  what  codes 
or  laws,  if  any,  aside  from  the  laws  of  the  Northwest 
Territory,  Ohio,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  the  earlier 
laws  of  Iowa,  the  makers  of  the  Code  of  1851  drew. 

Judge  McClain  accounts  for  many  of  the  provi- 
sions of  the  Code  of  1851  by  saying  that  legal  reform 
was  in  the  air  at  this  time,  and  that  during  the  year 
in  which  the  code  commissioners  of  Iowa  were  ap- 
pointed, the  New  York  commissioners,  appointed  to 
report  legal  reforms  to  the  legislature  of  that  State, 
had  submitted  the  first  of  their  reports.  He  adds 
that  these  reports  "were  not  fully  accepted  by  the 
New  York  legislature,  either  then  or  subsequently, 
but  many  of  his  cherished  reforms  were  incorporated 


80        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

into  the  written  law,  and  the  code  of  procedure  was 
fully  adopted.  It  was  but  natural  that  Judge  Mason 
should  feel  the  influence  of  this  movement,  which, 
commencing  in  New  York,  rapidly  extended  west- 
ward and  radically  affected  the  legislation  of  all  the 
newer  states,  culminating  eventually  in  California, 
where  the  Field  codes  so-called  were  substantially 
adopted  in  a  body."  But  this  writer  gives  no  evi- 
dence that  the  New  York  legislation  or  the  reports 
of  the  Field  Commission  had  any  direct  influence 
upon  the  authors  of  the  Code  of  1851.  In  fact,  he 
says:  "It  must  not  be  assumed  that  the  Code  of 
1851  was  a  copy  of,  or  substantially  derived  from, 
any  code  found  in  any  state.  The  general  principles 
of  law  reform  as  they  had  been  discussed  in  New 
York  and  elsewhere  were  recognized,  but  the  result 
was  the  production  of  the  Iowa  author,  and  not  a 
mere  adaptation  of  the  work  of  another. ' ' 78 

Furthermore,  the  compilers  of  the  Revision  of  1860 
declared  that  the  "terms  of  the  parent  act  [i.  e.  the 
Revised  Statutes  of  the  State  of  New  York  1848] 
were  so  far  departed  from  as  to  make  it  difficult  even 
to  those  well  versed  in  both  acts,  and  almost  impos- 
sible for  others  to  apply  the  judicial  illustration 
which  the  New  York  act  has  secured,  to  the  illumina- 
tion of  our  own. ' ' 79 

An  examination  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  however,  reveals  that  in  draw- 
ing up  certain  parts  of  the  Iowa  Code  of  1851,  the 
commissioners  borrowed  quite  freely  from  the  New 
York  legislation.  Below  will  be  found  in  parallel 


LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA  1846-1914 


81 


columns  article  one  of  chapter  forty-eight  of  the 
Code  of  1851  and  a  number  of  sections  from  the  Re- 
vised Statutes  of  the  State  of  New  York,  1848. 80 

SECTIONS   OF  THE   CODE  OF 
1851 

787.  The  father,  mother, 
children,  grandfather,  if  of 
ability  without  his  personal 
labor,  and  the  male  grand- 
children who  are  of  ability, 
of  any  poor  person  who  is 
blind,  old,  lame  or  otherwise 
impotent  so  as  to  be  unable 
to  maintain  himself  by  work 
shall  jointly  or  severally  re- 
lieve or  maintain  such  poor 
person  in  such  manner  as 
may    be    approved    by    the 
trustees    of    the    township 
where  such  poor  person  may 
be  or  by  the  directors,  but 
these  officers  shall  have  no 
control  unless  the  poor  per- 
son has  applied  for  aid. 

788.  The  word  ' 'father" 
in  the  preceding  section  in- 
cludes the  putative  father  of 
an    illegitimate    child,    and 
the  question  of  his  being  the 
father  may  be  tried  in  any 
action  or  proceeding  to  re- 
cover for  or  to  compel  the 


SECTIONS  OF  THE  REVISED 
STATUTES  OF  NEW  YORK 
SECTION  1.  The  father, 
mother  and  children  who  are 
of  sufficient  ability  of  any 
poor  person  who  is  blind, 
old,  lame,  impotent  or  de- 
crepit so  as  to  be  unable  by 
work  to  maintain  himself 
shall  at  their  own  charge  re- 
lieve and  maintain  such  poor 
person  in  such  manner  as 
shall  be  approved  by  the 
overseers  of  the  poor  of  the 
town  where  such  poor  per- 
son may  be. 


82        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 


support  of  an  illegitimate 
child.  But  there  shall  be  no 
obligation  to  proceed  against 
the  putative  father  before 
proceeding  against  the 
mother. 

789.  Upon  the  failure  of 
such  relative  so  to  relieve  or 
maintain  a  poor  person  who 
has  made  application  for  re- 
lief the  township  trustees  or 
the  directors  may  apply  to 
the    court    of    the    county 
where  such  poor  person  re- 
sides for  an  order  to  compel 
the  same. 

790.  At    least    fourteen 
days  written  notice  of  the 
application  shall  be  given  by 
summons    which     shall    be 
served  as  original  process  in 
an  action,  may  be  served  and 
in  any  county  by  any  officer 
thereof  or  by  any  other  per- 
son. 

791.  The      court      shall 
make  no  order  affecting  a 
person  not  served  but  may 
notify  him  at  any  stage  of 
the  proceedings. 


SEC.  2.  Upon  any  failure 
of  any  such  relative  so  to  re- 
lieve and  maintain  any  such 
poor  person,  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  the  overseers  of  the 
poor  of  the  town  where  such 
poor  person  may  be  to  apply 
to  the  court  of  sessions  of 
the  county  where  such  rela- 
tive may  dwell  for  an  order 
to  compel  such  relief;  of 
which  application  at  least 
fourteen  days'  notice  in 
writing  shall  be  given  by 
serving  the  same  personally 
or  by  leaving  the  same  at  the 
last  place  of  dwelling  of  the 
individual  to  whom  the  same 
may  be  directed  in  case  of 
his  absence  therefrom  with 
some  person  of  mature  age. 

SEC.  3.  The  court  to 
which  the  said  application 
may  be  made  shall  proceed 
in  a  summary  way  to  hear 
the  allegations  and  proofs  of 
the  parties,  and  shall  order 


LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA  1846-1914 


83 


792.  The  court  may  pro- 
ceed in  a  summary  manner 
to  hear  the  allegations  and 
proofs  of  the  parties  and  or- 
der any  one  or  more  of  the 
relatives  of  such  poor  per- 
son who  appear  to  be  able,  to 
relieve  and  maintain  him 
charging  them  as  far  as  prac- 
ticable in  the  order  above 
named  and  for  that  purpose 
making  new  parties  to  the 
proceedings  when  necessary. 


793.  Such  order  may  be 
for  the  entire  or  partial  sup- 
port of  the  poor  person  and 
it  may  be  for  support  either 
by  money  or  by  taking  the 
poor  person  to  the  relative's 
house,  or  the  order  may  as- 
sign the  poor  person  for  a 
certain  time  to  one  and  for 
another  period  to  another 
relative  as  may  be  adjudged 


such  of  the  relatives  afore- 
said of  such  poor  person  as 
appear  to  be  of  sufficient 
ability  to  relieve  and  main- 
tain such  person,  and  shall 
therein  specify  the  sum 
which  will  be  sufficient  for 
the  support  of  such  poor  per- 
son, to  be  paid  weekly.  And 
the  said  court  shall  therein 
direct  the  relative  or  rela- 
tives who  shall  perform  that 
duty  in  the  following  order : 
The  father  shall  be  first  re- 
quired to  maintain  such  poor 
person;  if  there  be  none  or 
he  be  not  of  sufficient  ability, 
then  the  children  of  such 
poor  person ;  if  there  be  none 
or  they  be  not  of  sufficient 
ability, ,  then  the  mother. 

SEC.  4.     [Omitted]. 

SEC.  5.  Such  order  may 
specify  the  time  during 
which  the  relatives  aforesaid 
shall  maintain  such  poor  per- 
son or  during  which  any  of 
the  said  sums  so  directed  by 
the  court  shall  be  paid,  or  it 
may  be  indefinite  and  until 
the  further  order  of  the 
court. 


84        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 


just  and  convenient,  taking 
into  view  the  means  of  the 
several  relatives. 

794.  If  the  court  order 
the  relief  in  any  other  man- 
ner than  in  money  it  shall  fix 
a  just  weekly  value  upon  it. 

795.  The  order  may  be 
specific  in  point  of  time  or  it 
may  be  indefinite  until  the 
further  order  of  the  court 
and  may  be  varied  from  time 
to   time   when   the   circum- 
stances require  it  on  the  ap- 
plication of  the  trustees  of 
the  poor  person,  or  of  any 
relative  affected  by  it,  upon 
fourteen  days  notice  being 
given. 

796.  When  money  is  or- 
dered to  be  paid  it  shall  be 
paid  to  such  officer  as  the 
court  may  direct. 

797.  If  any  person  fails 
to   render  the   support   or- 
dered, on  the  affidavit  of  one 
of  the  proper  trustees  or  di- 
rectors   showing    that    fact 
the  court  may  order  execu- 
tion for  the  amount  due  rat- 
ing any  support  ordered  in 
kind  as  before  assessed.    In 
such  proceeding  the  county 


The  court  may  from  time 
to  time  vary  such  order 
whenever  circumstances  shall 
require  it,  on  the  application 
either  of  any  relative  affect- 
ed thereby  or  of  any  over- 
seers of  the  poor  of  the  town, 
upon  fourteen  days'  notice 
being  given. 


SEC.  6.     [Omitted]. 

SEC.  7.  If  any  relative 
who  shall  have  been  required 
by  such  order  to  relieve  or 
maintain  any  poor  person 
shall  neglect  to  do  so  in  such 
manner  as  shall  be  approved 
by  the  overseers  of  the  poor 
of  the  town  where  such  poor 
person  may  be,  and  shall 
neglect  to  pay  to  such  over- 


LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA  1846-1914 


85 


is  plaintiff  and  the  person 
sought  to  be  charged  defend- 
ant. 


798.  An  appeal  may  be 
taken  from  such  judgment 
as  provided  in  the  chapter 
relating  to  the  county  judge. 

799.  Whenever  a  father, 
or  a  mother  being  a  widow 
or  living  separate  from  her 
husband,      abandons     their 
children,  or  a  husband  his 
wife,   leaving  them  charge- 
able   or    likely    to    become 
chargeable  upon  the  public 
for  their  support  the  trus- 
tees of  the  township  where 
such  wife  or  children  may 
be,  or  the  directors,  upon  ap- 
plication being  made  to  them 
may  apply  to  the  court  of 
any  county  in  which  any  es- 
tate of  such  father,  mother, 


seers  weekly  the  sum  pre- 
scribed by  the  court  for  the 
support  of  such  poor  per- 
son, the  said  overseers  may 
maintain   an   action  as  for 
moneys    had    and    received 
against   such    relative,    and 
shall  recover  therein  the  sum 
so   prescribed   by   the  said 
court  for  every  week  the  said 
order  shall  have  been  dis- 
obeyed, up  to  the  time  of 
such  recovery,  with  costs  of 
suit,  for  the  use  of  the  poor. 
SEC.     8.     Whenever     the 
father,   or  mother  being   a 
widow    or    living    separate 
from  her  husband,  shall  ab- 
scond from  their  children,  or 
a   husband   from   his   wife, 
leaving  any  of  them  charge- 
able,   or    likely    to    become 
chargeable  upon  the  public 
for  their  support,  the  over- 
seers of  the  poor  of  the  town 
where  such  wife  or  children 
may  be,  may  apply  to  any 
two  justices  of  the  peace  of 
any  county  in  which  any  es- 
tate, real  or  personal  of  the 
said  father,  mother,  or  hus- 
band may  be  situated,  for  a 
warrant  to  seize  the  same. 


86        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 


or  husband  may  be  for  a 
warrant  to  seize  the  same, 
and  upon  due  proof  of  the 
above  facts  the  court  may  is- 
sue its  warrant  authorizing 
the  'trustees  or  directors  to 
take  into  their  possession  the 
goods,  chattels,  effects, 
things  in  action,  and  the 
lands  of  the  person  abscond- 
ing. 

800.  By  virtue  of  such 
warrant  the  trustees  or  di- 
rectors may  take  the  prop- 
erty wherever  the  same  may 
be  found  in  the  same  county 
and  shall  be  vested  with  all 
the  right  and  title  to  the  per- 
sonal property  and  to  the 
rents  of  the  real  property 
which  the  person  absconding 
had  at  the  time  of  his  de- 
parture. 

801.  All  sales  and  trans- 
fers of  any  such  property 
real  or  personal  and  leases 
made  by  the  person  after  the 
issuing  of  the  warrant  shall 
be  absolutely  void. 

802.  The  said  trustees  or 
directors  shall  immediately 
make  an  inventory   of  the 
property  so  seized  by  them 


Upon  due  proof  of  the  facts 
aforesaid,  the  said  justices 
shall  issue  their  warrant  au- 
thorizing the  said  overseers 
to  take  and  seize  the  goods, 
chattels  and  effects,  things  in 
action,  and  the  lands  and 
tenements  of  the  person  so 
absconding. 


SEC.  9.  By  virtue  of  such 
warrant  the  said  overseers 
may  seize  and  take  the  said 
property  wherever  the  same 
may  be  found,  in  the  same 
county;  and  shall  be  vested 
with  all  the  right  and  title 
to  the  said  property  which 
the  person  so  absconding  had 
at  the  time  of  his  or  her  de- 
parture. All  sales  and  trans- 
fers of  any  personal  proper- 
ty left  in  the  county  from 
which  such  person  absconded 
made  by  him  after  the  issu- 
ing of  such  warrant,  whether 
in  payment  of  an  antecedent 
debt,  or  for  a  new  considera- 
tion shall  be  absolutely  void. 
The  overseers  shall  immed- 
iately make  an  inventory  of 
the  property  so  seized  by 


LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA  1846-1914 


87 


and  return  the  same  together 
with  the  proceedings  to  the 
court,  there  to  be  filed. 


803.  The  court  upon  in- 
quiring into  the  facts  and 
circumstances    of    the    case 
may  discharge  the  order  of 
seizure,  but  if  it  be  not  dis- 
charged the  court  shall  have 
power  to  direct  from  time  to 
time  what  part  of  the  per- 
sonal property  shall  be  sold 
and  how,  and  how  much  of 
the  proceeds  of  such  sale  and 
of  the  rents  and  profits  of 
the  real  estate  shall  be  ap- 
plied to  the  maintenance  of 
the  children  or  wife  of  the 
person  so  absconding. 

804.  If  the  party  against 
whom  such  warrant  issued 
return  and  support  the  wife 
or  children  so  abandoned  or 
give  security  to  the  county 
satisfactory    to    the    judge 
that  such  wife  or  children 
shall  not  become  chargeable 
to  the  county  the  warrant 
shall  be  discharged  by  an  or- 


them,  and  return  the  same 
together  with  their  proceed- 
ings to  the  next  court  of  ses- 
sions of  the  county  where 
such  overseers  reside,  there 
to  be  filed. 

SEC.  10.  The  said  court 
upon  inquiring  into  the  facts 
and  circumstances  of  the 
case,  may  confirm  the  said 
warrant  and  seizure,  or  may 
discharge  the  same;  and  if 
the  same  be  confirmed,  shall 
from  time  to  time  direct 
what  part  of  the  personal 
property  shall  be  sold  and 
how  much  of  the  proceeds  of 
such  sale  and  of  the  rents 
and  profits  of  the  real  estate, 
if  any,  shall  be  applied  to- 
wards the  maintenance  of 
the  children  or  the  wife  of 
the  person  so  absconding. 

SEC.  11.  If  the  party 
against  whom  such  warrant 
shall  issue,  return  and  sup- 
port the  wife  or  children  so 
abandoned,  or  give  security 
satisfactory  to  any  two  jus- 
tices of  the  town,  to  the  over- 
seers of  the  poor  of  the  town, 
that  the  wife  or  children  so 
abandoned  shall  not  become, 


88        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

der  of  the  court,  and  the  or  thereafter  be  chargeable 
property  taken  and  remain-  to  the  town  or  county,  then 
ing  restored.  — Code  of  1851,  such  warrant  shall  be  dis- 
pp.  124-126.  charged  by  an  order  of  such 

justices,  and  the  property 
taken  by  virtue  thereof,  shall 
be  restored  to  such  party.  — 
Revised  Statutes  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  1st  Revision, 
1848,  according  to  Revised 
Statutes  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  Sixth  Edition,  1875, 
Vol.  II,  Chap.  XX,  Title  I. 
pp.  808,  809. 

It  should  be  said,  however,  that  the  close  corre- 
spondence to  be  seen  here  is  not  to  be  found  in  the 
other  three  articles  of  the  chapter  on  the  care  of  the 
poor,  which  are  based  more  directly  upon  the  exist- 
ing laws  of  Iowa,  and  the  laws  of  Michigan,  Ohio, 
and  the  Northwest  Territory.  In  addition  to  the  pro- 
visions derived  from  these  sources,  there  were,  as 
has  already  been  pointed  out,  certain  sections  which 
apparently  originated  with  the  code  commissioners 
themselves. 

Between  the  enactment  of  the  Code  of  1&51  and  the 
adoption  of  the  Revision  of  1860  there  was  but  little 
legislation  on  the  subject  of  poor  relief,  and  none  of 
importance.  But  three  acts  are  to  be  found  in  the 
laws  of  that  period,  and  two  of  these  are  legalizing 
acts.  The  other  was  a  special  act  approved  on  Janu- 
ary 12,  1855,  authorizing  the  county  judge  of  Lee 


LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA  1846-1914  89 

County  to  sell  the  land  then  in  use  for  a  county  poor 
farm  and  to  buy  for  the  county  other  lands  for  that 
purpose  and  erect  buildings  thereon.81  One  of  the 
legalizing  acts,  approved  on  March  23, 1858,  legalized 
the  action  of  the  county  judge  of  Pottawattamie 
County  in  purchasing  real  estate  for  a  poorhouse.82 
The  other  act  legalized  similar  action  on  the  part  of 
the  county  judge  of  Scott  County.83  In  addition  to 
these  laws  a  joint  resolution  was  passed  by  the  Sixth 
General  Assembly,  instructing  the  Senators  and  Rep- 
resentatives from  Iowa  in  Congress  to  urge  the  pas- 
sage of  a  law  prohibiting  the  introduction  of  con- 
victs and  paupers  into  the  United  States.8* 

These  acts  have  no  bearing  upon  the  general  policy 
of  poor  relief.  Incidentally  they  reflect  the  political 
strife  which  led  one  political  party  to  make  every 
effort  to  embarrass  the  county  judge  politically,  and 
to  suggest  the  possibility  of  corruption  in  the  case  of 
some  of  the  county  judges.85 

Poor  relief,  like  many  other  problems  of  that  day, 
was  the  plaything  of  politics  rather  than  a  concern 
which  challenged  the  close  consideration  of  legisla- 
tors and  public-spirited  citizens.  The  poorhouse  was 
an  ancient,  if  not  honorable  institution  which  it  was 
believed  every  county  ought  to  have,  along  with  the 
jail  and  the  courthouse,  as  soon  as  the  people  could 
afford  it.  To  supply  this  need  sometimes  the  swamp 
land  money,  which  at  first  was  to  be  devoted  to  roads 
and  bridges,  was  diverted  to  the  building  of  such  in- 
stitutions. During  this  period  may  be  discerned  the 
beginnings  of  that  unscientific  attitude  which  still 


90        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

continues  in  most  places  toward  the  county  poor- 
house  and  which  made  it  what  it  was  then  and  still  is 
to-day  —  the  refuge  of  the  hopeless,  the  death-house 
of  the  pauper  sick,  the  winter  home  of  the  diseased 
vagrant,  the  last  refuge  of  the  broken-down  prosti- 
tute, the  asylum  for  the  insane,  the  lying-in  hospital 
both  for  the  feeble-minded  woman  whom  society 
failed  to  protect  from  its  vicious  and  often  feeble- 
minded members  and  also  for  the  poor  unfortunate 
girl,  the  victim  partly  of  ignorance  and  partly  of 
lust,  and  perhaps  saddest  of  all,  the  home  of  some  in- 
dependent, high-spirited  person  whom  misfortune  or 
filial  irreverence  in  his  declining  days  left  with  only 
such  a  place  in  which  to  close  his  eyes  in  the  last  long 
sleep.  Created  because  of  such  motives  and  devel- 
oped in  such  a  manner,  is  it  any  wonder  that  the 
county  poorhouse  has  continued  to  be  the  most 
neglected  subject  of  social  legislation,  not  only  in 
Iowa,  but  with  a  few  exceptions,  throughout  the 
United  States,  and  remains  the  despair  of  social  stu- 
dents everywhere  f 

There  was  very  little  interest  in  the  relief  of  the 
poor  at  this  time  on  the  part  of  any  one,  if  one  may 
judge  by  the  lack  of  attention  given  to  the  subject  in 
the  public  press.  A  careful  search  through  various 
newspapers,  covering  the  years  when  these  measures 
were  being  enacted,  fails  to  reveal  any  discussion  of 
the  large  problem  of  poor  relief.  This,  however,  is 
not  so  surprising  if  one  reflects  upon  the  neglect 
which  is  the  portion  of  that  subject  at  the  hands  of 
the  public  press  even  to-day.  Then,  as  now,  it  was  an 


LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA  1846-1914  91 

uninteresting  subject.  No  one  went  to  see  how  the 
poorhouse  was  conducted,  unless  his  official  duties  re- 
quired it;  and  the  average  citizen  dismissed  the  dis- 
agreeable subject  from  his  mind  with  the  consoling 
reflection  that  the  city  or  county  had  such  a  place  for 
those  not  able  to  care  for  themselves  and  that  the 
county  made  provision  in  some  cases  for  the  care  of 
certain  classes  of  poor  in  their  own  homes. 

The  joint  resolution  just  referred  to  is  the  first  in- 
dication in  the  legislation  of  Iowa  of  a  definite  con- 
sideration of  the  causes  of  poverty.  What  part  im- 
migration played  in  causing  the  pauperism  of  that 
day  it  would  be  impossible  to  estimate.  That  the 
problem  of  poverty  was  pressing,  however,  is  indi- 
cated by  the  fact  that  the  proposed  legislation  was 
aimed  at  its  prevention. 

The  provisions  of  the  Revision  of  1860  require  but 
little  discussion.  Absolutely  no  changes  were  intro- 
duced by  this  Code  in  the  law  relating  to  the  relief  of 
the  poor  except  to  incorporate  the  change  which  had 
been  made  in  the  meantime  respecting  the  officer  of 
administration.  The  county  judge  had  given  place  to 
the  county  supervisors  by  an  act  approved  on  March 
22,  1860.  The  only  thing  which  was  done  with  these 
sections  of  the  Code  was  to  insert  in  the  first  section 
definitions  making  the  words  "court"  and  "judge" 
as  they  appeared  in  the  law  mean  "board  of  super- 
visors". The  word  "clerk"  was  declared  to  mean 
the  "clerk  of  the  board  of  supervisors "  unless  other- 
wise expressed  and  whenever  the  nature  of  the  duty, 


92        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

the  time  of  its  necessary  discharge,  or  the  rules  to  be 
made  by  the  board  of  supervisors  should  so  provide. 
The  word  *  *  directors ' '  was  made  to  mean  * '  directors 
of  the  poorhouse"  in  counties  where  such  an  institu- 
tion had  been  established.86 

The  act  of  March  22, 1860,  overthrowing  the  county 
judge  system,  provided  also  that  the  supervisors 
should  have  authority  to  purchase  for  the  county  any 
real  estate  needed  for  the  erection  of  buildings  for 
the  care  of  the  poor  and  f ox  a  farm  to  be  used  in  con- 
nection therewith.  In  case,  however,  the  money 
necessary  for  this  purpose  amounted  to  more  than 
$2,000,  the  consent  of  a  majority  of  the  voters  of  the 
county  must  be  secured.87  All  the  powers  hitherto 
possessed  by  the  county  court  passed  into  the  hands 
of  the  board  of  supervisors. 

The  period  from  1860  to  1873,  when  the  next  Code 
was  adopted,  was  marked  by  the  Civil  War.  Out  of 
this  emergency  grew  certain  laws  which  have  ever 
since  been  retained  in  the  legislation  on  poor  relief 
in  this  State.  The  soldier  and  his  dependents  were 
the  first  to  be  exempted  from  the  laws  applying  to 
ordinary  pauperism ;  and  these  exemption  laws  rep- 
resent the  first  real,  humane  thought  given  to  the  sub- 
ject of  poor  relief  in  the  history  of  Iowa.  What  the 
ordinary  sentiments  of  humanity  could  not  accom- 
plish, gratitude  to  the  soldier  who  was  risking  his 
life  for  his  country  and  pity  for  his  wife  and  children 
brought  to  pass  in  some  degree. 

Soon  after  the  war  broke  out  Governor  Kirkwood, 


LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA  1846-1914  93 

in  a  special  session  message  of  May  16,  1861,  refer- 
ring to  the  promptness  with  which  his  appeal  for 
men  to  fill  a  regiment  had  been  met,  urged  that  the 
State  make  provision  to  pay  these  men  for  their  time 
between  the  day  when  they  left  their  homes  and  the 
date  when  they  were  mustered  into  the  service  of  the 
United  States.88  In  this  same  message  he  reported 
that  in  most  of  the  counties  in  which  companies  of 
volunteers  had  been  raised,  the  boards  of  supervisors 
or  public-spirited  citizens  had  raised  means  for  the 
support  of  the  families  of  the  men  who  had  volun- 
teered and  had  left  their  families  dependent  upon 
outside  support.  He  suggested  that  it  would  be  more 
equitable  if  this  burden  were  borne  by  the  State 
rather  than  by  the  counties  from  which  the  men  vol- 
unteered.89 The  General  Assembly  did  not  see  fit  to 
embody  this  suggestion  in  legislation,  but  by  an  act 
approved  on  May  27,  1861,  the  acts  of  boards  of  su- 
pervisors or  municipal  corporations  in  making  ap- 
propriations for  the  maintenance  of  families  of  sol- 
diers were  legalized.90  Two  days  later  an  act  was  ap- 
proved which  empowered  boards  of  supervisors  to 
appropriate  funds  from  the  county  treasury  for  the 
support  of  needy  families  of  volunteers  in  actual  mil- 
itary service  either  of  the  United  States  or  of  the 
State  of  Iowa,  provided  such  families  had  been  resi- 
dent in  the  county  at  the  time  of  the  enlistment  and 
were  still  resident  in  that  county.91 

As  the  war  wore  on  the  pressure  of  need  on  many 
families  was  not  diminished  but  the  need  for  more 
men  in  the  army  became  apparent.  To  enable  men 


94       POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

to  go  who  felt  the  duty  of  remaining  at  home  and 
supporting  their  families,  Governor  Kirkwood  issued 
an  appeal  through  the  press  of  the  State  on  August 
5, 1862,  urging  boards  of  supervisors  to  meet  in  their 
several  counties  and  take  decided  measures  for  the 
support  of  the  families  of  those  who  might  volun- 
teer.92 On  September  10th  of  the  same  year,  in  a 
special  message  to  the  legislature,  the  Governor 
urged  that  privates  in  the  army  be  exempted  from 
their  taxes  while  they  were  in  service.93 

A  law  approved  on  September  11,  1862,  legalized 
appropriations  made  by  the  boards  of  supervisors  of 
the  various  counties  of  the  State  and  authorized  them 
to  offer  bounties  to  be  given  to  volunteers  or  to  be 
used  for  the  support  of  their  dependent  families. 
This  act,  furthermore,  legalized  the  payment  of  these 
moneys  either  out  of  the  ordinary  county  funds,  or 
out  of  a  special  fund  thereafter  to  be  provided  for,  or 
out  of  the  swamp  land  funds.  The  supervisors  were 
also  empowered  to  levy  a  special  tax  if  the  ordinary 
revenue  was  not  sufficient  for  the  purposes  named, 
and  any  special  tax  which  any  county  had  levied  be- 
fore the  passage  of  this  act  was  legalized.94 

In  his  second  biennial  message,  on  January  12, 
1864,  Governor  Kirkwood  referred  againto  the  necessi- 
ty of  furnishing  aid  in  some  way  to  the  needy  fami- 
lies of  Iowa  soldiers.  He  recommended  that  some  sys- 
tematic mode  of  furnishing  such  aid  be  provided  by 
the  legislature.  To  a  certain  extent  the  General  As- 
sembly followed  this  suggestion  in  an  act  approved 
on  March  28,  1864,  legalizing  certain  taxes  levied  by 


LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA  1846-1914  95 

county  boards  of  supervisors  for  the  payment  of 
bounties  and  for  the  support  of  families  of  soldiers.95 

On  March  28,  1864,  however,  an  act  was  approved 
which  went  still  further  in  its  provisions  for  the  re- 
lief of  the  families  of  soldiers,  including  the  families 
of  non-commissioned  officers  and  musicians  as  well  as 
privates.  It  authorized  each  county  to  levy  a  tax  of 
not  less  than  two  mills  on  the  dollar  in  1864  and  1865 
for  that  purpose.  The  assessors  were  to  enumerate 
all  soldiers  and  marines  having  families,  and  all  who 
had  been  in  the  service  and  were  dead  or  disabled ; 
and  they  were  to  designate  such  of  these  families  as 
in  their  opinion  were  in  need  of  aid.  The  supervisors 
were  then  to  distribute  the  funds,  giving  not  more 
than  $150  to  any  one  family  in  any  year.  All  special 
funds  raised  before  that  time  for  the  relief  of  the 
families  of  soldiers  were  to  be  turned  into  this  fund. 
The  supervisors  were  authorized  to  borrow  from 
other  county  funds,  except  the  school  fund,  for  the 
purpose  of  caring  for  soldiers'  families,  in  anticipa- 
tion of  the  money  expected  from  the  special  tax. 

The  fund  thus  created  was  known  as  "the  relief 
fund"  and  was  destined  to  play  a  part  in  the  future 
of  poor  relief  in  Iowa  of  which  it  is  probable  that  its 
originators  never  thought.  To  prevent  abuses  in  the 
distribution  of  this  fund  a  family  was  defined  as 
"only  a  wife,  dependent  children  under  the  age  of 
twelve  years,  brothers  and  sisters  under  the  age  of 
twelve  years,  aged  and  infirm  dependent  parents. ' ' 96 
An  indication  that  in  some  counties  at  least  the  fund 
abundantly  supplied  the  need  is  to  be  found  in  an  act 


96        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

of  the  Eleventh  General  Assembly,  approved  on 
March  12,  1866,  which  provided  that  county  super- 
visors might  transfer  to  any  other  county  fund  as 
much  of  the  relief  fund  as  was  not  needed.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  was  stipulated  that  in  the  counties 
where  past  legislation  for  this  purpose  had  not  been 
sufficient,  the  supervisors  could  levy  for  the  years 
1866  and  1867  an  additional  tax  of  not  more  than 
one  mill  for  that  fund.  All  moneys  raised  in  this 
manner,  however,  were  to  be  expended  in  accordance 
with  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  March  28,  1864.97 

Just  as  the  national  pension  fund  for  old  soldiers, 
now  so  overgrown  and  sometimes  abused,  grew  out 
of  the  great  wave  of  gratitude  and  patriotic  senti- 
ment following  the  close  of  the  war,  so  this  method  of 
providing  relief  for  the  families  of  Iowa  soldiers 
sprang  out  of  the  helpless  suffering  entailed  upon 
them  by  the  absence  of  their  natural  supporters  who 
were  fighting  for  the  life  of  the  nation.  The  large 
number  of  legalizing  acts,  special  tax  acts,  and  extra- 
ordinary measures  stretched  the  law-making  power 
to  its  utmost,  but  ample  justification  was  to  be  found 
in  the  dire  necessities  which  broke  up  the  ordinary 
relations  of  life  and  made  those  dependent  who  in 
other  times  would  have  been  independent  of  public 
help.  Without  doubt  in  the  end  these  measures 
proved  demoralizing  to  many  families  and  laid  the 
foundation  of  dependency  in  after  years.  Such  a  re- 
sult, however,  was  an  incident  due  partly  to  the  pol- 
itician who  saw  an  opportunity  to  make  capital  for 
himself  by  transforming  a  perfectly  legitimate  con- 


LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA  1846-1914  97 

cern  for  the  family  of  the  soldier  into  a  pauperizing 
influence,  and  partly  to  the  weakness  of  individuals 
who  were  unable  to  preserve  the  spirit  of  indepen- 
dence when  once  the  form  had  temporarily  been 
given  up. 

Thus,  in  the  Civil  War  legislation  originated  the 
soldiers'  relief  fund  still  to  be  found  in  almost  every 
county  in  the  State  and  in  many  of  the  States  of  the 
Union.  Beginning  as  a  special  kind  of  relief  for  a 
special  class  it  has  continued  with  but  little  change 
down  to  the  present  day.  It  remains  chiefly  because 
it  has  not  the  stigma  attached  to  it  which  has  charac- 
terized ordinary  out-relief.  The  memories  of  hero- 
ism, which  those  related  to  the  recipients  left  in  the 
minds  of  the  people  who  lived  through  the  great 
struggle,  have  deprived  the  acceptance  of  money 
from  this  fund  of  the  shame  of  pauperism.  Furth- 
ermore, it  should  be  noted  that  this  series  of  acts 
marks  the  beginning  of  legislation  for  special  classes 
of  dependents. 

By  an  act  approved  on  April  3,  1868,  the  power  of 
forcing  relatives  to  support  their  dependent  kindred 
was  taken  out  of  the  hands  of  the  supervisors  and 
vested  in  the  circuit  courts,  thus  placing  this  feature 
of  poor  relief  once  more  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
court  authorities,  as  in  the  Code  of  185J.fg* 

Further  modifications  of  the  existing  law  which 
were  made  by  an  act  of  April  6,  1868,  are  important 
because  they  put  into  final  form  certain  provisions 
for  the  outdoor  relief  of  the  poor.  This  act  pro- 
vided that  the  city  council  of  any  incorporated  city 


98        POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

of  the  first  class  and  the  township  trustees  of  any 
township  in  the  State  were  authorized  and  required 
to  furnish  relief  for  such  persons  as  should  not  in 
their  judgment  be  sent  to  the  county  poorhouse,  pro- 
vided that  the  amount  paid  for  their  support  should 
not  exceed  two  dollars  per  week  for  each  person  for 
all  their  necessities  —  food,  rent,  clothing,  fuel, 
lights,  or  money  —  exclusive  of  medical  attendance. 
It  was  further  prescribed  that  no  widows  or  families 
of  Iowa  soldiers,  or  other  persons  who  were  sus- 
taining family  relationships,  should  be  sent  to  the 
poorhouse  when  they  could  be,  and  preferred  to  be, 
relieved  in  the  way  and  to  the  extent  just  mentioned. 
The  money  necessary  to  carry  out  these  provisions 
was  to  be  paid  out  of  the  county  treasury  after  the 
proper  account  had  been  rendered  therefor  and  ap- 
proved by  the  supervisors.  Moreover,  the  law  re- 
quired the  necessary  appropriations  to  be  made  by 
the  counties  to  carry  out  these  provisions,  but  the 
supervisors  had  the  power  to  limit  the  amount  of 
relief  to  be  furnished  in  each  case  and  could  refuse 
to  continue  the  relief  when  in  their  judgment  it  was 
no  longer  required." 

This  law  received  enthusiastic  support  from  the 
leading  State  paper  of  the  time,  The  Iowa  State 
Register.100  Partly  the  product  of  a  principle  long 
recognized  in  a  minor  way,  and  largely  the  fruit  of 
the  effort  to  relieve  the  needs  of  soldiers'  families, 
this  act  frankly  introduced  out-door  relief  for  the 
dependents  of  soldiers  and  for  those  having  family 
relationships.  While  this  method  of  relief  had  been 


LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA  1846-1914  99 

permitted  from  the  organization  of  the  Territory, 
it  was  now  first  required  in  the  cases  of  the  depend- 
ents of  Iowa  soldiers  and  of  dependents  in  families 
to  the  exclusion  of  the  time-honored  poorhouse.  This 
law  also  introduced  the  principle  of  free  medical  at- 
tendance into  poor  relief  legislation. 

One  legalizing  act  was  passed  at  the  session  of  the 
legislature  in  1870.  The  board  of  supervisors  of 
Story  County  had  appropriated  five  thousand  dollars 
for  the  purchase  of  land  for  a  poor  farm  and  two 
thousand  dollars  for  the  erection  of  a  poorhouse. 
For  this  purpose  they  had  issued  county  bonds  at  ten 
per  cent  interest.  An  act  approved  on  March  25, 
1870,  legalized  these  proceedings.101  During  the  ses- 
sion of  the  General  Assembly  in  1872  a  similar  law 
was  passed  legalizing  the  acts  of  the  supervisors  of 
Poweshiek  County  in  appropriating  $3,500  for  the 
purchase  of  buildings  and  grounds  for  a  county  poor 
farm.102 

The  Code  of  1873  differed  materially  from  the  Re- 
vision of  1860.  The  latter  was  simply  a  compilation 
of  the  existing  statutes  in  addition  to  the  Code  of 
1851,  without  any  attempt  to  eliminate  inconsisten- 
cies where  such  existed,  or  to  revise  the  arrangement 
or  the  wording  in  order  to  make  the  law  either  more 
intelligible  or  to  make  it  conform  to  the  decisions  of 
the  Supreme  Court.  On  the  other  hand,  the  com- 
missioners who  drew  up  the  Code  of  1873,  in  their 
last  report  to  the  legislature  not  only  brought  the 
law  up  to  date  by  including  the  acts  which  had  been 


100      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

passed  since  the  enactment  of  the  Code  of  1851,  but 
they  revised  and  rearranged  the  laws  so  that  incon- 
sistencies were  eliminated,  errors  which  had  crept  in 
were  corrected,  and  the  laws  were  rewritten  when 
that  was  necessary  in  order  to  bring  them  into  line 
with  court  decisions,  to  secure  a  clearer  statement,  or 
to  make  them  better  serve  the  public  welfare.103 
Basing  their  revision  frankly  on  the  Code  of  1851, 
and  ignoring  almost  entirely  the  Revision  of  I860, 
the  commissioners  set  themselves  to  the  task  of  mak- 
ing the  new  Code  contain  the  law  as  it  actually  ex- 
isted in  Iowa,  as  interpreted  by  the  Supreme  Court, 
and  arranged  as  they  thought  it  ought  to  be  in  order 
to  render  the  largest  service  to  the  people  of  the 
State,  without  changing  the  intention  of  the  laws  then 
on  the  statute  books. 

Judge  William  G.  Hammond,  then  Chancellor  of 
the  Law  Department  of  the  State  University,  wrote 
parts  one  and  two,  within  which  are  to  be  found  the 
sections  relating  to  the  care  of  the  poor.  Nothing 
can  make  as  clear  the  changes  which  were  made  in 
the  existing  law  as  the  copy  of  the  Report  of  the 
Commissioners,  1873,  in  which  the  laws  on  poor  re- 
lief as  they  then  existed  were  printed  in  the  ordinary 
Roman  type  and  the  proposed  changes  in  italics.  In 
this  Report  at  the  end  of  each  section  there  is  a  ref- 
erence which  shows  where  the  section  was  obtained 
or,  if  the  section  originated  with  the  commissioners, 
stating  their  reasons  for  the  change.104 

Various  changes  were  proposed  by  the  code  com- 
missioners. They  suggested  the  making  of  a  dis- 


LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA  1846-1914  101 

tinction  between  near  relatives  and  distant  relatives 
in  the  support  of  paupers,  and  the  compelling  of  rel- 
atives to  support  paupers  no  matter  from  what  cause 
the  latter  became  indigent.  Again,  they  proposed 
that  not  only  the  trustees,  but  also  any  other  officers 
who  had  charge  of  the  poor,  should  be  required  to 
apply  to  the  circuit  court  to  enforce  support  by  rela- 
tives; and  that  the  wife  should  be  made  jointly  re- 
sponsible for  the  support  of  those  naturally  depend- 
ent upon  the  heads  of  the  family.  A  very  important 
change  in  the  law  was  suggested  whereby,  instead  of 
giving  the  city  council  charge  over  out-relief  in 
cities  of  the  first  class  and  thus  making  possible  a 
conflict  between  the  city  and  the  county  authorities, 
the  supervisors  were  given  authority  to  appoint  ov- 
erseers of  the  poor  in  cities  of  the  first  and  second 
classes.  Other  recommendations  were :  the  abolition 
of  boards  of  directors  for  poorhouses,  since  in  no 
county  of  the  State,  according  to  the  Report  of  the 
Commissioners  had  such  boards  actually  been  organ- 
ized; the  requirement  that  the  support  of  the  poor- 
house  be  made  one  of  the  regular  disbursements  from 
the  county  funds ;  and  the  elimination  of  a  number  of 
the  sections  of  the  Revision  of  1860  which  seemed  to 
the  commissioners  either  useless  or  confusing.105 

The  most  important  of  these  proposed  changes 
were  adopted  by  the  General  Assembly  in  toto,  while 
the  alterations  actually  made  in  the  proposals  of  the 
commissioners  were  not  numerous.  The  legislature 
added  a  clause  to  section  eight  of  the  bill  of  the  com- 
missioners providing  that  no  person  should  be  sent 


102      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

to  the  house  of  a  relative  if  the  latter  was  willing  to 
pay  the  amount  necessary  for  his  support  elsewhere. 
The  clerk  of  the  circuit  court  was  substituted 
throughout  for  the  court  itself  in  the  administration 
of  the  law.  In  providing  free  medical  services  for 
the  poor,  the  legislature  added  the  statement  that 
the  practitioner  was  to  charge  the  county  no  more 
than  was  usually  paid  for  such  services  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. It  also  added  a  clause  to  the  section  de- 
voted to  the  outdoor  care  of  the  county  poor  in  each 
township  by  the  township  trustees,  which  was  in  line 
with  the  attempt  of  the  Code  to  put  the  control  of 
the  poor  more  fully  into  the  hands  of  the  supervis- 
ors, by  stating  that  the  trustees  were  to  care  for  all 
needy  persons  "  until  provided  for  by  the  board  of 
supervisors".  Again,  a  trustee  or  an  overseer  was 
forbidden  to  draw  an  order  upon  himself  or  a  mem- 
ber of  the  board  for  supplies  for  the  poor  unless  he 
had  a  contract  to  furnish  such  supplies;  and  there 
was  a  provision  for  the  bonding  of  the  contractor 
for  the  care  of  the  poor.  For  the  first  time  in  Iowa 
history,  legal  sanction  was  given  to  the  appropria- 
tion of  the  receipts  from  the  poor  farm  to  the  use 
of  the  poorhouse  —  a  provision  which  doubtless  sim- 
ply recognized  in  law  a  long-established  practice. 
Finally,  the  legislature  changed  the  ages  up  to  which 
pauper  children  could  be  bound  out  from  "twenty- 
one"  for  males  and  "eighteen"  for  females,  as  sug- 
gested by  the  commissioners,  to  "eighteen"  and 
' '  sixteen ' '  respectively.10* 


LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA  1846-1914  103 

The  Code  of  1873,  therefore,  differs  from  the  Code 
of  1851  chiefly  in  having  the  supervisors  instead  of 
the  county  court  as  the  poor  relief  authorities;  in 
substituting  the  sheriff  and  supervisors  for  the  di- 
rectors of  the  poorhouse ;  in  permitting  the  appoint- 
ment of  overseers  of  the  poor  for  cities  of  the  first 
and  second  classes;  in  providing  out-relief  for  the 
families  of  Iowa  soldiers  and  for  any  other  persons 
who  preferred  to  be  supported  at  home  at  a  cost  of 
not  more  than  two  dollars  per  week,  rather  than  go 
to  a  poorhouse ;  in  simplifying  the  laws  of  settlement 
so  far  as  they  related  to  removal  of  those  who  had 
no  legal  settlement  in  the  counties  of  the  State;  in 
providing  for  bonds  to  insure  the  support  of  pau- 
pers by  relatives;  in  introducing  supervision  over 
the  contractor  for  the  care  of  the  poor ;  and  in  cer- 
tain verbal  changes  making  for  greater  definite- 
ness.107 

Without  a  doubt  the  provisions  of  the  Code  of  1873 
with  reference  to  the  relief  of  the  poor  were  more 
definite  and  better  adapted  to  the  circumstances  of 
the  State  than  any  enacted  in  Iowa  up  to  that  time. 
They  contained  a  definite  clause  concerning  support 
of  paupers  by  relatives  more  closely  drawn  than  any 
existing  hitherto,  laws  of  settlement  based  upon  the 
Code  of  1851  but  more  closely  fitted  to  conditions  in 
Iowa;  provisions  for  the  temporary  support  of  per- 
sons who  had  no  settlement  and  for  the  support  out- 
side of  the  poorhouse  of  persons  who  had  family  re- 
lationships, and  sections  providing  for  the  support 


104      POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

of  others  in  the  poorhouse,  especially  those  who  had 
no  families,  and  for  the  care  of  soldiers'  orphans  in 
special  institutions. 

The  fact  that  the  Code  of  1873  contained  the  best 
legislation  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  that  Iowa  had 
ever  had  did  not  prevent  an  attempt  to  revise  its 
provisions  at  the  very  next  session  of  the  General 
Assembly.108  No  change  was  actually  made,  how- 
ever, until  1876,  when  the  provisions  of  the  law 
were  extended  to  families  of  all  Union  soldiers, 
whether  Iowa  soldiers  or  not ;  and,  in  addition  to  the 
supervisors  provision  was  made  for  overseers  of  the 
poor  as  relief  authorities.  The  overseers,  however, 
were  to  work  under  the  direction  of  the  supervis- 
ors.109 In  1878  the  law  was  amended  so  as  to  in- 
clude soldiers  as  well  as  their  families.110 

At  the  session  of  the  General  Assembly  in  1876 
several  bills  were  introduced  dealing  with  the  sub- 
ject of  pauperism,  but  they  failed  to  pass.111  During 
that  same  session,  however,  an  act  applying  only  to 
counties  having  a  population  of  not  less  than  thirty 
thousand  provided  that  the  expense  of  supporting 
the  poorhouse  should  be  paid  out  of  the  county  treas- 
ury in  the  same  manner  as  other  county  funds  were 
disbursed,  and  that  if  the  ordinary  revenue  of  the 
county  was  insufficient  for  the  support  of  the  poor,  a 
special  tax  not  exceeding  one  and  a  half  mills  might 
be  levied  by  the  board  of  supervisors  for  the  pur- 
pose.112 

In  1878  provision  was  made  for  paying  to  the 


LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA  1846-1914  105 

various  school  districts  in  which  poorhouses  were 
located  a  proportionate  part  of  the  tuition  for  the 
education  of  such  pauper  children  as  might  be  in  the 
poorhouse.113  By  an  act  of  March  25,  1880,  cities 
with  special  charters  were  given  the  same  right  as 
cities  of  the  first  and  second  classes  to  have  special 
overseers  of  the  poor  appointed  for  them.  The  last 
part  of  the  section  of  the  Code  providing  against 
excess  charges  for  medical  service  to  the  poor  was 
eliminated ;  and  a  provision  was  added  that  enabled 
the  trustee  or  overseer  to  require  labor  from  any 
applicant  or  any  member  of  his  family,  if  able  to 
work,  in  exchange  for  relief.  Work  on  the  highway 
might  also  be  required  of  any  "  transient  persons 
who  appear  needy"  and  who  were  given  relief.114 
A  law  approved  on  April  10,  1888,  gave  the  county 
supervisors  more  direct  control  over  the  relief  sup- 
plied by  the  trustees.  This  was  secured  by  authoriz- 
ing them  to  examine  the  claims  for  the  cost  of  poor 
relief,  including  medical  attendance,  and  to  reduce 
the  claims  if  they  found  that  relief  other  than  the 
bare  necessities  of  life  had  been  provided.115 

At  the  extra  session  of  the  legislature  in  1897,  by 
an  act  approved  on  May  4th,  the  Code  of  1873  and 
the  acts  of  the  Twenty-second  General  Assembly 
were  amended  by  striking  out  the  provision  that  the 
county  supervisors  could  levy  a  tax  of  a  certain 
number  of  mills  for  county  purposes,  "including  the 
support  of  the  poor".116  This  change  in  no  wise 
affected  the  support  of  the  poor.  It  served  only  to 
eliminate  the  possibility  of  misunderstanding  and 


106      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

bring  the  statute  into  line  with  the  expressed  policy 
of  requiring  that  the  cost  of  poor  relief  in  counties 
having  a  population  of  thirty  thousand  inhabitants 
or  over  should  be  paid  out  of  the  regular  income  of 
the  county. 

Besides  these  general  laws,  three  legalizing  acts 
were  passed  during  the  interim  between  1873  and 
1897.  One  of  these,  adopted  in  1882,  legalized  the 
act  of  the  supervisors  of  Wapello  County  in  selling 
the  old  poorhouse  and  paying  a  definite  sum  for  a 
new  one  without  first  submitting  the  question  to  the 
voters.117  Another,  approved  on  April  1, 1892,  legal- 
ized the  acts  of  the  supervisors  of  Lee  County  in 
levying  annually  since  1876  a  special  tax  of  one  and 
a  half  mills  for  the  support  of  the  poor.118  And  the 
third,  a  law  of  a  more  general  nature,  approved  on 
April  17,  1897,  legalized  the  practice  of  boards  of 
supervisors  in  levying  from  year  to  year  taxes  for 
the  county  revenue  and  for  the  support  of  the  poor 
at  the  same  time.119 

The  act  creating  the  code  commission  which  pre- 
pared the  Code  of  1897  gave  that  body  wide  powers. 
It  stated  that  the  commission  * '  shall  carefully  revise 
and  codify  the  laws  of  Iowa,  and  shall  rewrite  the 
same  and  divide  them  into  appropriate  parts  and  ar- 
range them  under  appropriate  titles,  chapters,  and 
sections ;  omit  all  parts  repealed  or  obsolete,  insert 
all  amendments  and  make  the  laws  complete."  More- 
over, the  commission  was  given  "  power  to  trans- 
pose words  and  sentences,  arrange  the  same  into 


LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA  1846-1914  107 

sections  or  paragraphs  and  number  them,  change 
the  phraseology  and  make  any  and  all  alterations 
necessary  to  improve,  systematize,  harmonize  and 
make  the  laws  clear  and  intelligible. ' '  12° 

Under  the  terms  of  this  law  the  members  of  the 
commission  felt  that  they  had  large  powers  in  re- 
writing the  laws  so  far  as  such  work  would  improve 
their  phraseology  and  make  them  more  clear  and 
intelligible,  but  they  did  not  think  that  they  had  any 
power  to  make  alterations  in  the  meaning  of  laws ; 
and  so  the  changes  which  they  made  were  merely 
verbal.121  They  found,  however,  that  much  in  the 
old  Code  and  in  the  more  recent  statutes  might  be 
omitted  as  superfluous.  In  rearranging  the  sections 
and  making  them  clearer  they  often  so  changed  and 
transposed  words  and  sentences  that  practically  the 
whole  section  was  underscored  in  their  report,  indi- 
cating changes,  but  only  changes  in  the  phraseology 
or  order  of  words  without  any  alteration  in  the 
meaning.122 

In  accordance  with  this  policy,  no  real  changes 
were  proposed  in  the  first  six  sections  of  the  chapter 
on  poor  relief  as  found  in  the  Code  of  1873,  except 
that  those  alterations  made  by  the  General  Assem- 
bly between  1873  and  1897  which  the  commissioners 
considered  essential  were  incorporated.  Sections 
one  to  six  of  this  chapter  in  the  Report  of  the  Com- 
mission correspond  substantially  with  sections  1330 
to  1349  in  the  Code  of  1873.  Sections  seven  and 
eight  "  provide  for  the  recovery  from  the  poor  per- 
son himself,  or  his  relatives,  or  his  estate  for  the 


108      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

support  furnished,  and  impose  a  limitation  on  the 
time  of  enforcing  such  claim.  But  it  is  provided 
that  this  limitation  as  against  the  poor  person  him- 
self shall  not  commence  to  run  until  he  is  able  to 
pay." 

It  was  proposed  that  the  time  of  residence  neces- 
sary to  acquire  a  settlement  be  changed  to  six 
months,  the  time  required  to  secure  the  right  to  vote. 
The  provisions  for  recovery  by  the  county  supplying 
the  relief  from  the  county  of  settlement  in  cases 
where  relief  was  given  to  non-resident  paupers  were 
consolidated,  but  otherwise  left  unchanged.  The 
furnishing  of  outdoor  relief  was  made  subject  to 
rules  to  be  adopted  by  the  supervisors  of  the  county, 
and  the  provisions  of  the  section  were  so  changed 
as  to  apply  also  to  a  city  situated  in  two  counties, 
while  a  clause  was  added  forbidding  officers  to  have 
any  personal  pecuniary  interest  in  the  furnishing  of 
supplies  to  the  poor.  The  provisions  of  the  law  of 
the  Eighteenth  General  Assembly,  conditioning  sup- 
port on  performance  of  labor  on  the  public  highway, 
were  excluded,  except  in  the  case  of  transient  pau- 
pers, from  the  recommendations  of  the  commission- 
ers as  of  no  practical  effect,  inasmuch  as  such  condi- 
tions were  never  imposed,  and  if  they  should  be, 
there  was  no  available  machinery  by  means  of  which 
such  labor  could  be  made  effectual.  It  was  made 
discretionary  with  the  board  of  supervisors  whether 
or  not  persons  in  families  should  be  sent  to  the  poor- 
house.  Moreover,  the  ultimate  control  of  the  super- 


LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA  1846-1914  109 

visors  in  the  entire  field  of  poor  relief  was  definitely 
provided  for. 

The  Report  of  the  Commission  provided  that  a 
contract  might  be  let  either  for  supplies  or  for  sup- 
port, as  the  board  of  supervisors  might  determine, 
but  in  either  case  it  was  to  be  let  to  the  lowest  bid- 
der. The  commissioners  proposed  that  only  in  cases 
where  an  expenditure  of  more  than  five  thousand 
dollars  was  involved  should  a  vote  of  the  people  be 
required,  rather  than  in  all  cases  as  was  prescribed 
in  the  Code  of  1873.  Again,  the  definition  of  a  poor 
person  was  so  stated  that  a  person  who  had  some 
means  might  be  aided  without  requiring,  for  exam- 
ple, that  he  sell  a  homestead  before  aid  could  be 
given  him.  Finally,  the  section  relating  to  the  bind- 
ing out  of  poor  children  was  transferred  from  this 
chapter  to  the  chapter  on  apprenticeship.123 

Only  a  few  important  changes  were  made  by  the 
legislature  in  the  proposals  of  the  commissioners. 
The  length  of  time  necessary  to  gain  a  legal  settle- 
ment was  left  at  one  year  as  provided  in  the  Code 
of  1873,  rather  than  at  six  months  as  recommended 
by  the  commissioners.  The  provisions  of  the  previ- 
ous Code  to  the  effect  that  in  exchange  for  relief  an 
able-bodied  person  might  be  required  to  labor  on 
the  streets  or  highways  at  five  cents  per  hour  under 
the  direction  of  those  having  charge  of  working  such 
streets  or  highways  were  retained ;  and  some  slight 
modifications  were  made  in  the  part  relating  to  the 
review  of  the  expenditures  of  township  trustees  and 


110      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

overseers  of  the  poor  by  the  supervisors,  in  order 
to  make  this  function  conform  more  closely  to  the 
previous  practice  than  to  the  plan  recommended  by 
the  commissioners.124 

The  Code  of  1897,  therefore,  made  no  radical 
changes  in  the  method  of  poor  relief.  The  only  im- 
portant change  was  to  concentrate  power  more  com- 
pletely in  the  county  supervisors,  a  step  which  was  in 
line  with  the  tendency  toward  the  centralization  of 
administrative  authority  —  a  tendency  which  has 
prevailed  ever  since.  Every  State  which  is  attempt- 
ing to  solve  the  problem  is  centralizing  the  adminis- 
tration of  poor  relief.  The  Code  of  1897  shows  the 
growth  of  the  social  consciousness  with  respect  to 
the  increasing  inadequacy  of  the  old  methods  to  cope 
with  the  changing  problems. 

The  ten  years  from  1897  to  1907,  when  the  second 
supplement  to  the  Code  of  1897  was  published,  wit- 
nessed no  changes  in  the  laws  relating  to  the  relief 
of  the  poor  —  the  only  ten  year  period  in  the  history 
of  the  State  of  which  such  a  statement  could  be 
made.  This  period  is  marked  by  the  growth  of  other 
social  legislation,  but  decreasing  attention  was  paid 
to  the  care  of  the  poor.  Perhaps  despair  at  the 
results  of  the  former  methods  of  treating  the  prob- 
lem of  poverty  caused  the  legislature  to  turn  from 
legislation  aimed  at  the  cure  of  poverty  to  laws  for 
the  removal  of  the  causes  of  poverty,  and  the  treat- 
ment of  such  causes  through  the  juvenile  court  and 


LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA  1846-1914  111 

other  means  of  a  similar  character  which  will  be 
taken  up  in  detail  in  subsequent  chapters. 

The  only  act  passed  by  the  Thirty-second  General 
Assembly  in  1907  bearing  upon  this  subject  was  one 
to  legalize  the  action  of  the  supervisors  of  Chicka- 
saw  County  in  proceeding  with  the  construction  of  a 
poorhouse  without  submitting  to  the  people  the  ques- 
tion of  whether  or  not  they  should  expend  not  to 
exceed  $25,000  for  such  a  purpose.125  The  Thirty- 
third  General  Assembly  in  1909  changed  the  amount 
of  the  tax  which  the  supervisors  might  levy  for  the 
care  of  the  poor  from  one  to  two  mills  on  the  dollar.129 
In  this  same  year  the  name  of  the  county  institution 
for  the  poor  was  changed  from  " poorhouse'*  to 
"county  home",127  in  the  vain  hope  that  a  change  of 
name  might  change  the  character  of  the  institution. 
The  Thirty-fourth  and  the  Thirty-fifth  General  As- 
semblies have  left  untouched  the  subject  of  caring 
for  the  poor  either  through  the  "county  home"  or  by 
means  of  outdoor  relief. 

During  the  period  from  1897  to  the  present  time, 
while  attention  has  been  focused  less  and  less  upon 
the  poorhouse  and  outdoor  relief,  a  vast  amount  of 
legislation  for  the  poor  of  various  classes  —  such  as 
soldiers  and  their  dependents,  defectives  whose  rela- 
tives can  not  afford  to  pay  for  their  care  and  educa- 
tion, and  children  and  widows  with  children  —  has 
been  enacted.  Moreover,  during  this  period  there 
has  been  noticeable  a  strong  tendency  towards  the 


112      POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

centralization  of  authority  in  the  care  of  dependents. 
This  tendency  has  not  gone  so  far  in  Iowa  as  in  some 
States  of  the  Union,  but  the  Board  of  Control  of 
State  Institutions  has  been  given  supervision  over 
those  county  institutions  in  which  insane  are  kept, 
in  addition  to  the  management  of  the  State  charita- 
ble and  correctional  institutions. 

Furthermore,  there  has  been  a  growing  realization 
within  this  period  that  poverty  and  pauperism  are 
not  isolated  problems,  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  they 
are  interwoven  with  all  kinds  of  other  social  prob- 
lems, such  as  vice,  crime,  housing,  inadequate  health 
regulations,  neglected  children,  industrial  neglect, 
lack  of  a  workman's  compensation  act,  and  a  number 
of  other  unfortunate  social  conditions. 

The  problem  of  the  relief  of  poverty  has  become 
much  more  complicated  than  it  was  formerly.  With 
a  study  of  its  causes,  the  State  has  come  to  see  that 
no  mere  palliative  like  the  "county  home",  however 
good,  will  meet  the  situation.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  has  not  yet  developed  an  appreciation  of  the 
possibilities  wrapped  up  in  the  scientific  treatment 
of  paupers  in  an  institution  constructed  for  the  pur- 
pose of  the  rehabilitation  or  permanent  segregation 
of  those  who  are  in  the  working  period  of  life  and 
for  the  proper  care  of  the  aged  and  infirm.  The 
legislators  of  Iowa  have  not  come  to  a  realization  of 
the  fact  that  unsystematic  out-relief  is  a  pauperiz- 
ing influence,  and  that  both  a  properly  conducted 
poorhouse  and  properly  administered  out-relief  can 
do  much  to  stem  the  tide  of  pauperism,  as  the  ex- 


LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA  1846-1914  113 

perience  of  Indiana  since  1897  clearly  shows.  In 
Iowa  there  has  been  no  careful  consideration  of  the 
problem  of  caring  for  the  poor  in  a  way  that  will 
make  for  cure  and  prevention,  except  as  legislation 
has  taken  other  directions  —  as  for  instance  in  the 
juvenile  court  statute,  the  mothers'  pension  law,  the 
workman's  compensation  act,  and  other  laws  looking 
towards  the  removal  of  the  economic  and  social 
causes  of  poverty.  These  measures  will  be  taken 
up  in  the  following  chapters  so  far  as  they  touch  the 
treatment  of  special  classes  of  dependents,  or  bear 
upon  the  growing  emphasis  which  is  being  placed  on 
the  prevention  of  poverty  —  both  of  which  move- 
ments are  characteristic  of  recent  legislation  dealing 
with  the  problems  of  poor  relief. 


PART  II 

SPECIAL    PHASES    OF    POOR    RELIEF 
LEGISLATION    IN    IOWA 


VI 
THE  LAW  OF  SETTLEMENT 

The  law  of  settlement  in  force  when  Iowa  became 
a  State  was  borrowed :  the  principle  that  a  depend- 
ent person  must  be  supported  by  the  legal  unit  in 
which  he  has  a  residence  is  as  old  as  the  legislation 
of  Henry  VIII.128  That  principle,  as  has  been  seen, 
was  recognized  almost  universally  in  the  legislation 
of  the  States  and  Territories  from  which  the  legis- 
lators of  Iowa  obtained  their  ideas  concerning  the 
relief  of  the  poor,  and  it  was  well  established  in  the 
poor  relief  legislation  of  the  Middle  West.  Up  to 
the  legislation  of  1842  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  fol- 
lowing the  example  of  Wisconsin,  retained  the  coun- 
ty as  the  relief  unit  and  therefore  as  the  unit  of 
settlement.129  When,  however,  in  1842,  there  was 
enacted  a  new  law,  borrowed  verbatim  from  Ohio 
and  originating  in  England,  the  Legislative  Assem- 
bly took  over  the  mixed  system  of  Ohio  —  the  county 
and  township  systems  combined  —  and  made  the 
township,  rather  than  the  county,  the  unit  of  settle- 
ment.180 The  Code  of  1851  changed  the  unit  back  to 
the  county,131  where  it  has  remained  down  to  the 
present  time. 

The  length  of  residence  necessary  to  gain  a  settle- 
ment has,  from  the  Territorial  days,  been  one  year. 

117 


118      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

The  time  necessary  to  reside  in  a  county  in  order  to 
gain  a  settlement  after  being  warned  to  depart  has 
been  a  year  in  every  law  with  the  exception  of  the 
act  of  1842,  which  provided  for  a  three  years'  resi- 
dence. An  unsuccessful  attempt  was  made  by  the 
code  commission  in  its  report  in  1896  to  have  the 
time  of  residence  necessary  to  gain  a  settlement, 
either  upon  first  coming  into  the  State  or  after  being 
warned  to  depart,  reduced  'to  six  months  —  the  time 
necessary  to  gain  the  franchise.132  The  legislature, 
however,  retained  the  time-honored  period  of  one 
year.133 

The  Code  of  1851  retained  the  provision  of  the 
Territorial  act  of  January  16, 1842,  first  introduced 
into  the  Ohio  statutes  in  1831,  that  only  white  per- 
sons could  obtain  a  settlement.134  But  the  Civil  War 
made  it  impossible  to  retain  this  provision  in  the 
Code  of  1873.  The  code  commissioners  changed  the 
wording  in  accordance  with  the  amendment  made  by 
the  Tenth  General  Assembly  in  1864  so  that  instead 
of  reading  "any  white  person  having  attained  ma- 
jority", it  read  "any  person  having  attained  ma- 
jority", and  the  legislature  adopted  the  change  as 
suggested.  Since  that  time  this  provision  has  re- 
mained undisturbed.135 

The  Code  of  1851  provided  that  a  married  woman, 
abandoned  by  her  husband  and  having  obtained  au- 
thority to  act  as  a  single  person,  might  acquire  a 
settlement  as  if  she  were  unmarried.  The  code 
commission  of  1873  omitted  the  qualifying  phrase; 
and  its  recommendation  on  this  point  became  the 


THE  LAW  OF  SETTLEMENT  119 

law,  thus  precluding  the  necessity  for  court  action 
before  a  woman  deserted  by  her  husband  could  ob- 
tain a  settlement.  Since  1873  this  section  of  the 
law  has  remained  unchanged.136 

Provisions  concerning  the  settlement  of  children 
were  first  introduced  into  Iowa  law  in  the  Code  of 
1851,  which  provided  that  a  legitimate  child  should 
follow  and  have  the  settlement  of  his  father,  if  his 
father  had  acquired  a  settlement.  If  the  parent  was 
without  a  place  of  legal  settlement,  then  the  status 
of  the  child  should  be  that  of  his  mother.  An  ille- 
gitimate minor  child  should  follow  and  have  the  set- 
tlement of  his  mother  except  when  she  had  none,  in 
which  case  the  place  of  settlement  of  the  child  should 
be  that  of  his  putative  father.137  The  only  change 
since  made  in  these  provisions  was  the  insertion  in 
the  Code  of  1873  of  the  word  "minor"  before  "le- 
gitimate ' '  in  the  section  relating  to  the  settlement  of 
legitimate  children,  in  order  to  make  explicit  what 
was  undoubtedly  the  original  intention  of  the 
framers  of  the  Code  of  1851.™*  The  minor  whose 
parents  had  no  settlement  in  the  State  has  shared 
with  the  married  woman  living  apart  from  her  hus- 
band the  privilege  of  acquiring  a  settlement  by  a 
year's  residence  in  the  county  since  the  introduction 
of  this  provision  into  the  Code  of  1851™° 

Before  1851  the  only  provision  for  the  settlement 
of  minors  pertained  to  minor  apprentices  legally 
brought  into  the  Territory  or  State.  By  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Territorial  law  of  February  16,  1842, 
such  minors,  as  well  as  other  apprentices  and  in- 


120      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

dented  servants,  acquired  a  settlement  after  a  three 
years '  service  in  any  one  place.140  The  Code  of  1851 
provided  that  any  minor  bound  as  an  apprentice 
should  obtain  the  same  settlement  as  that  of  his  mas- 
ter immediately  upon  becoming  an  apprentice ;  and 
this  provision  has  never  been  changed.141 

The  epoch-making  Code  of  1851  introduced  also 
the  definite  provision  that  a  settlement  once  acquired 
continued  until  it  was  lost  by  acquiring  a  new  one. 
This  section,  again,  the  code-makers  and  the  legis- 
lators have  left  undisturbed  in  the  law  of  the  State.142 

Thus,  in  all  but  a  few  minor  details  the  Code  of 
1851  has  determined  the  law  of  settlement  for  the 
State  of  Iowa  during  the  major  part  of  its  history. 
The  framers  of  that  Code  apparently  gathered  the 
laws  of  settlement  from  many  States  and  Territories, 
and  especially  from  New  York,  and  adapted  them  to 
the  situation  in  Iowa  by  freely  modifying  and  sup- 
plementing them  with  original  provisions. 

The  regulations  concerning  the  removal  of  such 
persons  as  were,  or  were  about  to  become,  public 
charges,  but  who  had  no  settlement  in  the  place 
where  found,  were  based  largely  upon  the  experience 
of  the  Northwest  Territory,  Ohio,  Michigan,  and 
Wisconsin. 

In  the  preceding  pages  it  has  been  shown  how  the 
legislation  on  the  subject  of  poor  relief  fluctuated 
from  relative  simplicity  in  the  earlier  acts  of  the 
Northwest  Territory  to  extreme  complexity  in  the 


THE  LAW  OF  SETTLEMENT  121 

laws  enacted  in  Ohio  about  1830.  From  that  ex- 
treme there  was  a  reaction  in  the  legislation  of  the 
new  Territories  of  the  West  during  the  next  twenty 
years  toward  the  simplicity  found  in  the  law  of  Wis- 
consin Territory.  This  act  was  copied  in  the  first 
law  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  but  was  superseded  by 
the  complex  law  copied  almost  verbatim  from  the 
Ohio  statute  of  1831.  In  the  section  relative  to  the 
removal  of  a  pauper  who  had  no  legal  settlement, 
however,  the  two  laws  were  remarkably  alike,  pro- 
vision being  made  for  the  removal  of  the  person  to 
the  place  of  his  legal  settlement  or  for  a  warning  to 
him  to  depart.  Record  of  the  warning  was  to  be 
made  in  order  that  it  could  be  determined  whether 
the  pauper  had  lived  in  a  given  place  the  length  of 
time  necessary  to  gain  a  settlement  after  the  warn- 
ing had  been  given.  In  the  law  of  1842  the  length  of 
time  which  a  person  must  remain,  without  being 
warned  again  to  depart  before  he  gained  a  settle- 
ment was  three  years ;  while  in  the  Code  of  1851  this 
period  was  reduced  to  one  year  —  a  provision  which 
has  been  retained  ever  since. 

According  to  the  Territorial  law  of  1842  the  town- 
ship overseers  of  the  poor  issued  the  warning  to  de- 
part, which  warrant  was  served  by  the  constable  and 
returned  to  the  clerk  of  the  township  to  be  record- 
ed.1*3 By  the  terms  of  the  Code  of  1851,  the  warning 
in  writing  was  to  be  issued  by  the  township  trustees, 
or  the  directors  of  the  poorhouse  or  the  county  judge, 
and  might  be  served  by  any  person,  but  the  person 


122      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

serving  it  must  report  to  the  person  issuing  it,  and  if 
not  served  by  a  sworn  officer,  such  service  must  be 
verified  by  an  affidavit.1" 

A  person  making  application  for  relief  could  be 
removed  on  the  order  of  the  county  judge  issued  to  a 
township  trustee  or  a  director  of  the  poorhouse  in 
the  county  where  he  had  a  legal  settlement,  written 
notice  being  given  to  the  county  judge  or  clerk  of  that 
county.  Or  the  judge  of  the  county  where  the  pauper 
applied  for  relief  might  notify  the  judge  of  his 
county  of  settlement  that  such  a  person  was  a  county 
charge.  Then  it  was  the  duty  of  the  latter  to  remove 
him  or  see  to  his  care.145  The  Code  of  1851  also  con- 
tained provisions  for  the  payment  of  all  reasonable 
charges  incurred  in  the  temporary  relief  and  removal 
of  non-resident  paupers,  for  appeals  from  the  order 
of  the  judge  of  the  county  where  the  pauper  applied 
to  the  district  court,  and  for  change  of  venue.146 

The  only  changes  made  in  these  provisions  by  the 
Code  of  1873  were  those  due  to  the  change  from  the 
county  judge  system  to  county  government  by  super- 
visors, and  two  changes  in  the  interest  of  greater 
definiteness.  The  order  of  removal  was  to  be  issued 
by  the  township  trustees  or  the  county  supervisors, 
written  notice  was  to  be  given  to  the  county  auditor 
instead  of  the  county  judge  or  clerk,  the  return  of 
service  was  to  be  made  to  the  supervisors,  and  the 
county  auditor  took  the  place  of  the  county  judge  in 
notifying  the  auditor  of  the  proper  county  that  the 
pauper  in  question  was  a  public  charge.  Appeal  was 
made  to  the  circuit,  rather  than  to  the  district,  court 


THE  LAW  OF  SETTLEMENT  123 

- —  a  change  due  simply  to  an  alteration  in  the  court 
system.  The  order  for  removal  was  binding  unless 
the  county,  so  notified  within  thirty  days  served  no- 
tice on  the  county  issuing  the  order  of  an  intention  to 
contest  the  order. 

In  case  of  an  appeal  there  was  added  to  the  issue 
of  whether  the  pauper  had  a  settlement  in  the  county 
to  which  it  was  proposed  to  remove  him,  one  other 
question  to  be  determined,  namely,  whether  the 
amount  claimed  by  the  county  seeking  his  removal 
had  been  actually  and  properly  expended.  In  addi- 
tion to  this  the  burden  of  proof  was  placed  upon  the 
county  seeking  to  make  the  removal.1*7 

The  Code  of  1897  introduced  some  minor  changes. 
The  county  from  which  the  pauper,  receiving  tem- 
porary relief,  had  come  must  notify  the  county  grant- 
ing relief  within  fifteen  days  if  it  intended  to  dis- 
pute the  claim  to  settlement.148  If  the  claim  to  set- 
tlement was  disputed,  then  within  thirty  days  after 
the  notice  above  provided  for  the  county  seeking  the 
removal  of  the  pauper  must  file  in  the  district  court 
of  the  county  disputing  the  claim  a  copy  of  the  no- 
tices sent  and  received.149 

In  the  course  of  the  history  of  the  law  of  settle- 
ment in  Iowa  certain  changes  of  emphasis  have  taken 
place.  In  the  Code  of  1851  the  emphasis  was  upon 
removal,  as  it  was  in  the  early  laws  of  Ohio  and  in 
the  Territorial  statute  of  1842,  while  the  notification 
of  the  authorities  in  the  county  of  settlement  was  in- 
cidental. In  the  Code  of  1873  and  the  Code  of  1897 


124      POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

the  emphasis  was  changed :  the  process  of  removal  is 
mentioned  only  incidentally,  while  the  notification  of 
the  county  of  settlement  and  the  legal  procedure  on 
the  part  of  the  county  of  settlement  and  the  county 
seeking  to  remove  the  pauper,  are  very  much  ampli- 
fied. So  well  established  has  the  principle  of  re- 
moval become  that  little  has  needed  to  be  said  about 
that  subject  in  the  later  statutes. 

It  is  a  cause  for  regret,  however,  that  so  much  em- 
phasis has  been  laid  in  the  poor  laws  of  Iowa  upon 
settlement  and  removal.  English  experience  had 
long  before  shown  that  the  introduction  of  the  law  of 
settlement  was  a  serious  blunder.  It  interfered  with 
that  mobility  of  labor  so  necessary  to  economic  read- 
justment, while  it  did  not  prevent  the  vagabondage 
it  was  intended  to  circumvent  15°  and  which  must  be 
dealt  with  in  quite  another  manner.  It  was  feared, 
when  the  law  of  settlement  was  introduced  into  Eng- 
lish law  in  1662,  that  unless  some  such  provision 
were  made  the  poor  would  flock  to  the  place  offering 
the  most  abundant  opportunity  for  unearned  sus- 
tenance. Such  a  condition  did  prevail  then,  as  it 
does  to-day,  when  poor  relief  is  undiscriminating  and 
unorganized.  But  when  relief  is  provided  only  after 
careful  investigation  and  on  a  work  test,  or  when 
the  methods  of  scientific  relief  are  rigidly  applied, 
paupers  will,  as  a  rule,  go  for  relief  to  places  where 
they  can  be  supplied  by  the  old-fashioned,  unscien- 
tific methods.  In  short,  the  law  of  settlement  works 
a  hardship  to-day  upon  the  honest,  unpauperized 
poor ;  while  the  person  with  the  pauper  spirit  is  able 


THE  LAW  OF  SETTLEMENT  125 

to  secure  a  living  without  work,  the  law  of  settlement 
to  the  contrary  notwithstanding,  except  where  sci- 
entific methods  of  relief  are  in  vogue.  If  there  were 
no  law  of  settlement  only  those  communities  would 
suffer  which  are  undiscriminating  in  their  relief  of 
the  poor ;  while  the  communities  which  have  adopted 
the  best  methods  of  relief  would  be  rid  of  the 
hobo ' '  and  the  pauper. 


. . 


VII 
COUNTY  BELIEF  OFFICIALS 

THE  COURT 

According  to  the  provisions  of  the  Code  of  1851 
the  principal  relief  official  was  the  county  judge.  It 
was  he  who  issued  the  warrant  to  remove  a  person 
coming  from  another  State  who  had  not  yet  acquired 
a  settlement  in  Iowa  and  who  had  fallen  into  want 
and  applied  for  relief.  It  was  the  county  judge  or 
the  township  trustees  or  the  directors  who  issued  in 
writing  the  warning  to  any  persons  who  it  was 
thought  might  become  county  charges.  It  was  the 
county  judge  who  issued  the  order  for  the  removal 
of  a  person  who  had  no  settlement  and  had  applied 
for  relief;  and  to  the  county  judge  of  the  county 
where  the  pauper  had  a  legal  settlement  written  no- 
tice was  given  of  the  intention  to  remove  him  thither. 
The  county  judge  notified  the  judge  of  the  county 
where  the  pauper  had  a  legal  settlement  that  such  a 
person  was  a  county  charge ;  and  it  was  the  duty  of 
the  judge  of  the  latter  county  to  order  the  removal 
of  the  pauper  or  to  provide  for  his  care  in  the  county 
where  he  had  applied  for  relief.  Furthermore,  the 
county  judge  was  authorized  to  make  an  appeal  to 
the  district  court  if  he  had  reason  to  believe  that  the 
pauper  had  no  legal  settlement  in  his  county. 

126 


COUNTY  RELIEF  OFFICIALS  127 

Again,  it  was  the  county  judge  to  whom  the  town- 
ship trustees,  after  satisfying  themselves  that  the  ap- 
plicant was  in  such  destitute  condition  as  to  require 
relief  at  public  expense,  reported  the  case.  He  was 
authorized  to  deny  further  relief  if  he  found  cause. 
All  claims  and  bills  for  the  support  of  the  poor  had 
to  be  certified  by  the  proper  trustees  and  presented 
to  the  judge,  by  whom  they  were  allowed  if  he  was 
satisfied  that  they  were  reasonable  and  proper.  He 
also  had  the  power  at  his  discretion  to  allow  to 
paupers  of  sound  years  and  mature  mind  who  would 
probably  be  benefited  by  such  a  procedure,  such  sums 
or  annual  allowances  in  cash  as  would  not  exceed  the 
charge  of  their  maintenance  by  the  ordinary  method. 
The  judge  might  be  appealed  to  from  the  decision  of 
the  trustees  in  case  they  refused  relief  to  an  appli- 
cant, and  he  had  the  power  to  direct  the  trustees  to 
afford  relief.  It  was  the  county  judge  who  let  the 
contract  for  the  care  of  the  poor  to  the  lowest  bidder 
if  he  thought  it  expedient  to  do  so.  It  was  he  who 
appointed  that  remarkable  official  whose  business  it 
was  to  ascertain  and  report  to  him  the  manner  in 
which  the  poor  were  kept  and  treated.  If,  upon  due 
notice  and  inquiry,  the  judge  found  that  paupers 
were  not  reasonably  and  properly  supported,  treat- 
ed, or  cared  for,  he  had  the  power  to  set  aside  any 
contract  at  any  regular  session  of  the  court. 

The  county  judge  was  also  authorized  to  or- 
der the  erection  and  establishment  of  a  poorhouse, 
and  to  purchase  land  for  that  purpose ;  and  he  was 
invested  with  full  authority  to  make  all  the  necessary 


128      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

contracts.  The  only  limit  upon  his  power  in  this  re- 
spect was  that  he  should  first  estimate  the  cost  and 
submit  the  question  of  making  such  an  expenditure 
to  a  vote  of  the  people  at  some  regular  election.  The 
judge  had  discretionary  power  to  appoint  directors 
of  the  poorhouse,  and  it  was  his  duty  to  fill  vacancies 
in  the  board  of  directors.  If  he  decided  not  to  ap- 
point directors,  he  himself  was  invested  with  all  the 
authority  usually  conferred  on  directors  in  oversee- 
ing the  poorhouse.  He  had  coordinate  powers  with 
the  township  trustees,  or  the  directors  of  the  poor- 
house to  admit  by  written  order  an  applicant  to  that 
institution.  It  was  to  the  judge  that  the  directors  of 
the  poorhouse  reported  once  a  year  a  full  account  of 
the  condition  of  the  institution,  of  their  contracts, 
disbursements,  and  proceedings.  The  county  judge 
issued  the  order  for  the  payment  of  all  expenses  of 
maintaining  the  poorhouse  on  certificates  filed  by  the 
directors.  In  case  the  ordinary  county  revenue 
proved  insufficient,  he  was  empowered  to  levy  a  poor 
tax  of  not  exceeding  one  mill  on  the  dollar.  He  might 
allow  the  directors  whatever  sum  he  deemed  reason- 
able for  their  services  not  exceeding  one  dollar  and 
a  half  a  day,  and  he  had  the  authority  to  lease  out  the 
poorhouse  and  the  care  of  its  occupants  for  a  period 
of  not  more  than  three  years.151 

With  the  abolition  of  the  county  judge  system  in 
1860  and  the  substitution  of  the  circuit  for  the  county 
court,  the  work  of  the  court  in  the  relief  of  the  poor 
became  a  mere  bagatelle  compared  with  its  impor- 
tance under  the  Code  of  1851.  All  the  powers  of  the 


COUNTY  RELIEF  OFFICIALS  129 

court  and  its  clerk  were  now  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  county  supervisors  and  their  clerk.  By  an  act 
approved  on  April  3,  1868,  however,  the  compelling 
of  relatives  to  support  paupers  was  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  circuit  court  —  a  provision  which  has 
remained  practically  unchanged.  Thus,  the  Code 
of  1873  prescribed  that  the  circuit  court  might  be 
applied  to  in  order  to  compel  relatives  to  support 
paupers,  and  the  Code  of  1897  gave  the  same  juris- 
diction to  the  district  court.  The  court  procedure 
in  this  respect,  however,  remained  nearly  the  same  as 
outlined  in  the  Code  of  1851.™ 

Only  a  few  changes  were  made  in  the  procedure. 
For  instance,  in  cases  of  the  seizure  of  property  to 
compel  support  of  paupers  by  relatives  either  the 
clerk  of  the  court  or  the  judge,  instead  of  the  judge 
alone,  might  issue  the  order  for  seizure,  and  instead 
of  such  order  being  issued  to  the  township  trustees 
or  the  directors,  it  was  issued  to  the  trustees  or  the 
sheriff.  The  duty  of  issuing  the  order,  however, 
still  remained  with  the  court  and  its  clerk.153  More- 
over, the  clerk  of  the  circuit  court  took  over  the  du- 
ties of  the  county  judge  in  respect  to  such  an  order 
in  case  the  absconding  person  returned  and  gave  se- 
curity against  his  dependents  becoming  chargeable 
to  the  county.154  According  to  the  Code  of  1897  the 
district  court  remained  in  charge. 

A  few  slight  changes  in  addition  to  those  just 
mentioned  were  introduced  in  the  procedure  to  com- 
pel relief  by  absconding  natural  supporters.  The 
township  trustees  dropped  out  as  alternate  author- 


130      POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

ities  to  seize  the  property  of  the  one  absconding, 
and  an  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  lower  court 
touching  the  support  of  pauper  relatives  was  def- 
initely stated  to  lie  to  the  Supreme  Court.  More- 
over, a  time  limit  was  put  upon  the  bringing  of  an 
action  by  the  county  against  the  person  himself  or 
his  relatives  or  estate,  or  by  a  relative  against  a 
nearer  relative,  for  the  support  of  a  poor  person. 
In  the  case  of  action  against  the  person  himself  it 
must  be  begun  within  two  years  after  he  became  able 
to  pay ;  if  against  his  estate,  the  claim  must  be  filed 
according  to  the  law  governing  claims  against  the 
estates  of  deceased  persons ;  and  if  against  relatives 
for  his  support,  or  if  against  a  nearer  relative  by 
one  more  distant  for  support  given,  action  must  be 
commenced  within  two  years  after  the  relief  was 
supplied.155  In  the  Code  of  1897  the  court  or  judge, 
as  in  the  Code  of  1873,  was  inconsistently  retained 
to  issue  the  order  removing  a  pauper  who  had  no 
settlement  to  the  place  from  whence  he  came,  while 
the  actual  removal  of  paupers  was  placed  under  the 
authority  of  the  township  trustees  or  the  supervisors. 
In  the  Code  of  1851  removal  could  be  made  by  the 
latter  officials,  or  by  the  court  or  judge.156  Aside 
from  the  provisions  forcing  relatives  and  natural 
supporters  to  maintain  paupers  and  those  concern- 
ing the  removal  of  paupers,  scarcely  anything  re- 
mained of  the  former  power  of  the  court  in  the  relief 
of  the  poor  after  1860.  The  other  powers  of  the 
county  judge  had  been  distributed  between  the  board 


COUNTY  RELIEF  OFFICIALS  131 

of  supervisors,  the  trustees  of  the  township,  and  the 
county  auditor. 

THE   BOAED   OF   SUPERVISORS 

When  the  county  judge  gave  place  to  the  board  of 
supervisors  by  the  act  approved  on  March  22,  1860, 
most  of  the  powers  of  the  county  judge  with  refer- 
ence to  poor  relief  were  taken  over  by  the  super- 
visors. Ever  since  that  time  these  officials  have  car- 
ried on  the  major  part  of  this  work. 

The  supervisors  assumed  the  court's  function  in 
issuing  the  warning  to  the  pauper  who  had  no  reg- 
ular settlement,  but  the  power  of  ordering  the  re- 
moval of  a  pauper  to  the  county  of  his  legal  settle- 
ment remained  with  the  court.  The  board  of  super- 
visors discharged  the  duties  formerly  incumbent 
upon  the  county  judge  relative  to  the  expenditure  of 
money  from  the  county  treasury  on  behalf  of  the 
county  and  examined  and  approved  all  bills  pre- 
sented by  township  trustees  for  the  care  of  the 
poor.  They  allowed  the  bills  presented  by  the  town- 
ship trustees,  and  they  granted  cash  sums  to  such 
persons  as  they  chose  under  the  same  conditions  as 
had  governed  the  county  judge.  It  was  to  the  super- 
visors that  appeal  from  the  decision  of  township 
trustees  was  now  made.  It  was  they  who  let  con- 
tracts either  for  the  farming  out  of  the  poor  or  for 
the  building  of  a  poorhouse.  They  also  took  over 
the  functions  of  the  judge  in  making  purchases  for 
the  poorhouse  and  in  prescribing  rules  and  regula- 
tions for  the  management  of  the  same.  Upon  their 


132      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

written  order  admission  was  made  to  the  poorhouse. 
They  levied  a  special  tax  for  the  support  of  the  poor 
in  case  the  ordinary  tax  was  not  sufficient.  If  they 
thought  best,  they  let  out  the  occupancy  of  the  poor 
farm  and  the  care  of  the  inmates  for  a  period  of  not 
exceeding  three  years.  They,  or  the  county  auditor, 
arranged  for  the  maintenance  of  a  pauper  in  one 
county  when  he  had  a  settlement  in  another,  if  such 
a  plan  was  satisfactory  to  the  authorities  in  the 
county  seeking  his  removal.  Moreover,  they  were 
given  authority  to  appoint  in  any  city  of  the  first  or 
second  class  embraced  within  the  limits  of  a  town- 
ship an  overseer  of  the  poor  for  that  city.  This  was 
a  modification  of  the  act  of  April  6, 1868,  which  gave 
to  the  city  council  coordinate  power  with  the  town- 
ship trustees  in  administering  relief  to  the  poor  in 
their  city  who,  in  their  judgment,  should  not  be  sent 
to  the  poorhouse.157 

In  addition  to  these  duties  the  Code  of  1897  in- 
vested the  supervisors  with  the  oversight  of  the  re- 
lief rendered  by  the  township  trustees  to  such  poor 
persons  in  each  township  as  in  their  judgment  should 
not  be  sent  to  the  poorhouse.  It  forbade,  further- 
more, any  supervisor  or  township  trustee  to  be  di- 
rectly or  indirectly  interested  in  any  supplies  fur- 
nished the  poor.158  It  made  it  discretionary  with  the 
supervisors  whether  they  should  relieve  persons  and 
families,  other  than  soldiers  and  marines,  outside 
the  poorhouse.  Any  able-bodied  applicant  for  relief 
might  be  required  to  labor  on  the  streets  or  highways 
at  the  rate  of  five  cents  an  hour.159 


COUNTY  RELIEF  OFFICIALS  133 

The  Code  of  1897  also  made  the  out-relief  fur- 
nished by  the  township  trustees  subject  to  the  ap- 
proval of  the  board  of  supervisors,  by  requiring  the 
trustees  to  report  all  such  cases  at  once  to  the  super- 
visors.160 Probably  because  the  former  statute  on 
the  subject  had  not  been  enforced  provision  was 
made  for  the  appointment  by  the  supervisors  of  a 
person  to  examine  and  report  concerning  the  meth- 
ods employed  by  a  contractor  in  caring  for  the  poor, 
whether  the  contract  was  for  the  care  of  all  the  poor 
or  for  certain  individuals.161  It  strengthened  the 
control  of  the  board  over  the  contractor  in  the  in- 
terests of  paupers  employed  by  the  latter  by  making 
the  supervisors  rather  than  the  township  trustees 
more  explicitly  responsible  for  the  welfare  of  such 
persons.162  It  made  it  necessary  for  the  supervisors 
to  obtain  the  consent  of  the  voters  for  the  purchase 
of  a  poor  farm  or  the  erection  of  a  poorhouse  only  in 
case  the  estimated  cost  was  above  five  thousand  dol- 
lars.163 On  the  theory  that  only  sick  people,  or  those 
who  for  other  reasons  were  unable  temporarily  to 
work,  were  in  the  poorhouse,  it  also  made  it  obliga- 
tory, not  merely  permissive,  as  in  the  Code  of  1873, 
for  the  board  to  order  the  discharge  of  a  pauper 
when  he  became  able  to  support  himself.164  The 
Code  of  1897  also  amplified  the  duties  of  the  super- 
visors by  providing  that  they  should  examine  all 
claims,  including  bills  for  medical  attendance  al- 
lowed by  the  township  trustees,  for  the  support  of 
the  poor,  and  they  were  given  the  authority,  if  they 
found  the  amount  allowed  to  be  unreasonable  or  ex- 


134      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

orbitant  or  for  any  goods  or  services  other  than  the 
necessaries  of  life,  to  reject  or  diminish  the  claim  as 
they  thought  proper.  This  provision  applied  not 
only  to  the  counties  which  had  poorhouses,  but  also 
to  those  in  which  relief  was  supplied  by  other  meth- 
ods.165 

On  the  whole,  the  Code  of  1897  aimed  at  and  pro- 
cured a  much  greater  centralization  of  the  functions 
of  poor  relief,  both  outdoor  and  indoor,  in  the  hands 
of  the  board  of  county  supervisors.  The  board  had 
gained  power  at  the  expense  especially  of  the  town- 
ship trustees  and,  to  a  lesser  degree,  of  all  the  other 
relief  officials.  Even  the  new  officials  created  by 
legislation  between  1873  and  1897  as  well  as  those 
existing  before  1873  were  by  this  Code  brought  un- 
der complete  subjection  to  the  supervisors. 

THE  COUNTY  AUDITOR 

The  county  auditor  does  not  appear  in  the  Code 
of  1851  among  the  officers  connected  with  the  relief 
of  the  poor.  But  by  the  Code  of  1873  he  was  consti- 
tuted one  of  the  county  relief  officials  to  whom  was 
given  a  part  of  the  duties  belonging  formerly  to  the 
court.  It  was  to  him  that  the  county  contesting  the 
order  of  removal  must  give  notice  of  its  intention  to 
contest.  In  the  action  itself  the  county  auditor  took 
the  place  of  the  judge  in  serving  notice  upon  the  aud- 
itor of  the  other  county  of  the  amount  claimed  for 
the  support  of  the  pauper.166 

The  Code  of  1897  imposed  one  further  duty  upon 
the  auditor.  He  was  made  an  alternate  authority 


COUNTY  RELIEF  OFFICIALS  135 

with  the  supervisors  of  the  county  in  which  a  pauper 
had  a  settlement  to  request  that  a  pauper  unable  to 
be  removed  be  cared  for  temporarily  in  the  county 
where  he  became  chargeable.167 

THE  GLEBK  OF  THE  COURT 

Even  in  the  Code  of  1851  the  clerk  of  the  court  ap- 
peared as  an  officer  charged  with  certain  functions 
in  poor  relief.  Either  he  or  the  judge  of  the  county 
of  settlement  must  be  notified  when  a  county  had  re- 
moved from  its  borders  a  pauper  who  had  no  settle- 
ment therein.168 

The  Code  of  1873  increased  the  powers  of  the  clerk 
of  the  court.  The  code  commission  in  its  report  de- 
prived him  of  even  the  small  part  in  the  relief  of  the 
poor  that  was  given  to  him  by  the  Code  of  1851,  but 
the  legislature  saw  fit  to  increase  his  importance  by 
substituting  the  words  *  *  clerk  of  the  circuit  court  or 
judge"  for  " circuit  court  or  judge"  in  the  section 
providing  for  the  seizure  of  any  property  of  a  party 
abandoning  those  naturally  dependent  upon  him, 
after  application  by  the  latter  to  the  township  trus- 
tees. The  clerk  had  coordinate  power  with  the  judge 
to  issue  an  order  to  seize  the  goods,  and  sole  author- 
ity to  discharge  such  an  order  in  case  the  party  re- 
turned and  gave  satisfactory  security  to  the  clerk. 
Moreover,  it  was  with  the  clerk  that  the  notice  and 
transcript  of  the  proceedings  in  case  of  a  contest 
between  two  counties  over  the  removal  of  a  pauper 
must  be  filed.169  Subsequent  legislation  made  no 
changes  in  these  provisions. 


136      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

DIEECTORS  OF  THE  POORHOUSE 

Of  a  slightly  different  type  from  the  county  of- 
ficials elected  by  the  people  and  charged  with  duties 
with  reference  to  the  poor  were  the  directors  of  the 
poorhouse.  The  appointment  of  these  officers  was 
optional  with  the  county  judge  according  to  the 
Code  of  1851.  If  he  chose  not  to  appoint  such  a 
board,  the  judge  himself  performed  their  duties.  He 
could  appoint  one  or  three  as  he  chose.  Except  in 
certain  matters  concerning  settlement  and  the  col- 
lection from  relatives  of  expenses  for  the  support  of 
paupers,  where  the  directors  were  coordinate  author- 
ities with  the  court  or  the  township  trustees,  the  di- 
rectors were  the  secondary  authorities  in  counties 
which  had  a  poorhouse,  just  as  the  township  trustees 
were  in  counties  which  had  no  such  institution. 

It  was  the  duty  of  the  directors  to  take  charge  of 
and  manage  the  affairs  of  the  poor  and  of  the  poor- 
house. They  were  a  body  corporate,  were  required 
to  take  oath  faithfully  to  discharge  their  duties,  and 
were  appointed  for  one  year  and  until  their  succes- 
sors were  appointed  and  qualified.  Power  was  given 
to  them  to  make  contracts  and  purchases  needed  for 
the  poorhouse  and  to  prescribe  rules  for  its  manage- 
ment. They  had  joint  authority  with  the  township 
trustees  and  the  county  judge  to  admit  persons  to 
the  poorhouse.  Moreover,  they  had  power  to  coun- 
termand any  order  of  admission,  or  an  order  for  the 
relief  of  a  person  outside  the  poorhouse  made  by  the 
township  trustees,  and  to  make  any  other  provision 
they  pleased  in  relation  to  the  pauper  so  treated. 


COUNTY  RELIEF  OFFICIALS  137 

It  was  they  who  bound  out  poor  children  in  the  poor- 
house,  and  ordered  the  discharge  of  any  inmate  of 
that  institution  who  had  become  able  to  support  him- 
self. 

The  directors  of  the  poorhouse  provided  for  the 
relief  of  any  poor  person  who  made  application  and 
whose  condition  did  not  admit  of  his  removal  to  the 
poorhouse.  They  were  required  to  see  that  the  poor- 
house  was  visited  once  a  month  by  a  member  of  their 
body.  The  directors  were  also  invested  with  all  the 
powers  theretofore  given  to  the  trustees  of  town- 
ships in  relation  to  the  poor  in  counties  having  poor- 
houses.  They  had  authority  in  a  county  which  had 
a  poorhouse  to  apply  to  the  county  court  to  compel 
a  relative  to  support  a  pauper,  and  to  make  affidavit 
of  such  person's  failure  to  obey  the  court's  order,  as 
a  preliminary  to  execution  upon  his  goods.  Further- 
more, they  were  authorized  to  apply  to  the  court  for 
an  order  to  seize  the  estate  of  a  father  or  of  a  mother 
living  apart  from  her  husband,  if  they  had  aban- 
doned child  or  children ;  or  the  estate  of  a  husband 
who  had  forsaken  his  wife,  when  such  dependents 
were  liable  to  become  chargeable  to  the  public.  The 
directors  could  seize  the  property,  under  the  orders 
of  the  court,  and  use  it  for  the  maintenance  of  those 
abandoned.  The  directors  or  the  trustees  and  the 
judge  or  court,  warned  from  the  county  any  persons 
who  came  from  other  States  or  counties  and  were 
about  to  become  county  charges.  The  directors  or 
the  trustees  received  paupers  removed  from  a  county 
where  they  had  no  settlement.170 


138      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

After  the  enactment  of  the  Revision  of  1860  the 
duties  of  these  officers  remained  the  same.  They 
were  appointed  by  the  supervisors,  however,  and 
were  subject  to  the  latter  as  they  had  been  to  the 
county  court  under  the  Code  of  1851. 

The  commissioners  who  prepared  the  Code  of  1873 
omitted  all  reference  to  directors  In  an  explanatory 
note,  however,  to  their  draft  of  section  forty-three, 
title  eleven,  they  stated  that  they  omitted  "§§  1398- 
1400,  1411,  1413,  1414,  [i.  e.  those  section  of  the  Re- 
vision of  1860  dealing  with  directors  of  the  poor- 
house]  and  all  other  provisions  of  this  chapter  with 
relation  to  *  directors  of  the  poor-house'  as  super- 
fluous and  practically  obsolete.  Such  a  board  of 
directors  might  be  useful  in  a  county  governed  by  a 
single  county  judge,  but  are  worse  than  useless  in 
addition  to  a  board  of  supervisors. ' '  It  was  the  be- 
lief of  the  commissioners  that  "no  such  board  does 
in  fact  exist  in  any  county  in  the  State.  The  power 
given  to  them  by  the  statute  is  of  course  vested  in 
the  board  of  supervisors".171  Thus,  the  directors  of 
the  poorhouse  vanish  from  the  history  of  poor  relief 
in  Iowa,  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  only  existence  they 
ever  had,  if  the  statement  of  the  code  commissioners 
of  1873  may  be  believed,  was  statutory,  since  the  pro- 
vision for  directors  was  never  realized  in  actual 
practice  before  the  office  was  forever  abolished. 

THE  COUNTY  SHERIFF 

Before  the  Code  of  1851  was  adopted  the  county 
sheriff  played  no  part  in  the  administration  of  poor 


COUNTY  RELIEF  OFFICIALS  139 

relief  in  Iowa  so  far  as  statutory  obligation  was  con- 
cerned. In  this  Code  he  was  not  specifically  named 
as  one  of  the  officials  concerned  with  poor  relief.  He 
was  included  by  implication,  however,  in  the  section 
which  related  to  the  serving  of  the  court  summons 
upon  a  person  who  had  failed  to  support  his  pauper 
relative.  This  summons  was  to  be  served  "in  any 
county  by  any  officer  thereof  or  by  any  other  per- 
son".172 The  same  provision  was  continued  in  the 
Revision  of  I860.119 

In  the  Code  of  1873  the  sheriff  was  implicitly  in- 
cluded among  the  relief  officials  in  a  new  clause 
which  reads  as  follows :  "And  all  provisions  of  this 
chapter  relating  to  trustees  shall  apply  to  any  other 
officers  of  a  county,  township,  or  incorporated  town, 
or  city,  charged  with  the  oversight  of  the  poor. ' ' 174 
Moreover,  the  sheriff  now  assumed  the  function 
given  to  the  directors  by  the  Code  of  1851  in  seizing 
the  property  of  an  absconding  person  who  left  those 
naturally  dependent  upon  him  chargeable  to  the 
county.175  Since  that  time  his  duties  with  reference 
to  poor  relief  have  remained  unchanged,  except  in 
connection  with  certain  poor  children,  as  will  be 
noted  later. 

THE  "SPY" 

By  the  Code  of  1851  there  was  introduced  among 
the  officials  dealing  with  the  relief  of  the  poor  one 
whose  duties  were  not  concerned  with  relief,  directly, 
but  constituted  a  sort  of  espionage  upon  the  person 
who  had  the  contract  for  the  care  of  the  poor.  He 
had  no  title  in  the  statute,  but  he  was  indicated  in 


140      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

the  language  of  the  law  as  * '  some  person  to  examine 
and  report  upon  the  manner  in  which  the  poor  are 
kept  and  treated".  He  was  to  be  appointed  from 
time  to  time  by  the  county  judge,  indicating  that  the 
Code  did  not  contemplate  the  appointment  as  more 
than  a  temporary  one.  He  was  to  make  his  inspec- 
tions without  notice  to  the  contractor  and,  evidently, 
report  his  findings  to  the  judge.  He  was  thus  a  kind 
of  inspector  for  that  official.  He  remained  as  a  ser- 
vant of  the  supervisors  in  the  Code  of  1873  and  the 
Code  of  1897.™  In  the  latter,  however,  he  remained 
as  a  mere  survival,  for  the  contract  system  was  rap- 
idly disappearing. 

THE  CONTEACTOE 

As  has  been  seen,  from  a  very  early  period  in  the 
history  of  poor  relief  in  the  Northwest  Territory,  the 
contract  system  has  been  one  of  the  principal  meth- 
ods of  caring  for  the  poor.  The  system  was  intro- 
duced by  the  law  of  1795,1"  and  its  adoption  became 
practically  universal  in  the  Middle  West.  The  con- 
tract system  was  found  in  the  laws  of  the  Territory 
of  Wisconsin.  Thence  it  came  to  the  Territory  of 
Iowa;  and  it  has  been  continued  in  every  Code 
adopted  in  this  State.  It  stands  in  the  law  to-day, 
although  in  1911  there  was  only  one  county  in  the 
State  which  let  out  the  care  of  its  poor  by  contract ; 
while  one  other  county  boarded  out  its  few  paup- 
ers.178 

Under  this  system  the  contractor  was  a  quasi 
county  official,  for  he  had  the  right  to  employ  a 


COUNTY  RELIEF  OFFICIALS  141 

pauper  in  any  work  which  his  age,  health,  and 
strength  permitted,  subject  to  supervision  of  county 
and  township  officials.179  Happily,  however,  the 
State  has  arrived  at  a  point  in  its  development  when 
the  contractor  for  the  care  of  the  poor  has  all  but 
vanished. 

THE  STEWARD  OF  THE  POOKHOUSE 

Another  subordinate  official  was  the  steward  of 
the  poorhouse,  appointed  by  the  primary  relief  of- 
ficials. Such  an  officer  is  to  be  found  first,  so  far  as 
this  history  is  concerned,  in  the  "superintendent" 
of  the  poorhouse  in  the  Ohio  act  of  1816  concerning 
poorhouses ;  and  this  title  was  retained  in  the  Iowa 
Territorial  poorhouse  law  of  1842.  The  title  ap- 
pears as ' '  steward"  for  the  first  time  in  Iowa  history 
in  the  Code  of  1851,  and  it  has  remained  unchanged 
to  this  day.180 

Under  whatever  name  he  was  known  the  duties  of 
this  officer  have  not  changed  much  from  those  indi- 
cated in  the  Ohio  law  of  1816.  He  receives  into  the 
poorhouse  all  those  who  produce  an  order  for  admis- 
sion from  a  township  trustee  or  a  county  supervisor. 
Under  the  Code  of  1851  and  the  Revision  of  1860  he 
received  those  who  brought  an  order  from  the  county 
judge,  a  trustee,  or  a  director.181  From  the  begin- 
ning of  Iowa  history  to  the  present  it  has  been  his 
duty  to  see  that  each  inmate  was  employed  at  such 
labor  as  he  was  able  to  perform  and  that  the  name, 
age,  and  date  of  admission  of  each  pauper  admitted 
was  recorded  in  a  book  kept  for  that  purpose.  More- 


142      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

over,  he  was  to  conduct  the  poorhouse  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  the  board  of  directors  or,  since  1873,  the  board 
of  county  supervisors,  might  direct.182 

Under  the  general  powers  granted  the  supervisors 
to  govern  the  steward,  the  poor  farm  was  managed 
by  him  up  to  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  Code  of 
1873.  Before  that  date  one  can  not  discover  from 
the  statutes  that  the  steward  of  the  poorhouse  had 
anything  to  do  with  the  management  of  the  poor 
farm.  In  that  Code,  however,  it  was  provided  that 
the  receipts  from  the  poor  farm  "if  there  be  one", 
together  with  the  proceeds  from  the  labor  of  the 
paupers  were  to  be  appropriated  to  the  use  of  the 
poorhouse  in  such  a  manner  as  the  board  of  super- 
visors might  determine.183  This  is  but  another  illus- 
tration of  how  frequently  practices  arise  of  which 
legislation  takes  no  direct  cognizance. 

In  the  beginning  the  superintendent,  or  steward, 
of  the  poorhouse  was  merely  the  agent  of  the  direc- 
tors or  other  primary  authorities  in  actually  man- 
aging the  institution,  which  at  that  time  was  a 
purely  charitable  establishment.  Soon,  however,  the 
problem  of  providing  work  for  the  able-bodied  paup- 
ers arose,  as  it  did  earlier  in  English  experience. 
Instead,  however,  of  making  the  poorhouse  into  a 
work-house  in  the  same  sense  as  was  intended  by 
the  Elizabethan  legislation  copied  by  some  of  the 
early  American  States  and  an  example  of  which  is  to 
be  seen  in  the  law  of  the  Northwest  Territory  of 
1790,  the  American  States  of  the  Middle  West 


COUNTY  RELIEF  OFFICIALS  143 

evolved  the  poor  farm  on  which  the  able-bodied 
paupers  could  work. 

The  poor  farm,  however,  was  destined  to  assume 
an  important  place  in  its  demands  upon  the  time  of 
the  steward  of  the  poorhouse.  He  has  really  become 
primarily  the  steward  of  the  poor  farm,  and  second- 
arily of  the  poorhouse.  Most  of  the  latter  functions 
have  been  turned  over  to  his  wife  as  matron.  He  has 
become  the  farmer,  rejoicing  more  in  making  the 
farm  pay  than  in  making  the  poorhouse  a  home  for 
the  aged  and  infirm;  taking  more  pride  in  his  fine 
cattle,  hogs,  or  chickens,  and  in  the  spacious  barns 
than  in  the  comfort,  usefulness,  and  happiness  of  the 
inmates  of  the  poorhouse  or  in  the  buildings  in  which 
they  are  housed.184  We  must  not  forget,  however, 
that  these  men  only  reflect  the  attitude  of  their  em- 
ployers, the  members  of  the  boards  of  supervisors, 
and  that  the  latter  simply  carry  out  the  policy  which 
they  know  the  taxpayers  consciously  or  unconscious- 
ly hold. 


VIII 

TOWNSHIP  AND  CITY  BELIEF 
OFFICIALS 

THE   TOWNSHIP   TEUSTEES 

Of  the  minor  relief  officials  the  township  trustees 
do  not  come  first  from  the  point  of  view  of  historical 
development.  The  township  trustees  are  the  lineal 
functional  descendants  of  the  township  overseers  of 
the  poor  of  early  American  and  English  legislation. 
At  first  there  were  both  township  trustees  and  town- 
ship overseers  of  the  poor. 

So  far  as  this  study  is  concerned,  the  entrance  of 
the  township  trustee  into  the  field  of  poor  relief  was 
brought  about  by  the  Ohio  statute  of  February  22, 
1805,  in  which  they  took  the  place  of  the  county  com- 
missioners as  the  primary  relief  officials.  To  them 
the  overseers  of  the  poor  reported  complaints  con- 
cerning poor  persons;  and  they,  upon  inquiry,  de- 
cided whether  the  overseers  should  afford  relief.185 
It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  in  the  Iowa  Ter- 
ritorial acts  of  February  16,  1842  (which  was  bor- 
rowed from  Ohio),  and  June  5,  1845,  the  trustees 
should  be  designated  as  township  relief  authorities.186 

The  provisions  of  the  Iowa  Territorial  law  of  1842 
so  far  as  it  pertained  to  the  functions  of  the  trus- 
tees, continued  in  force  until  the  adoption  of  the 

144 


TOWNSHIP  AND  CITY  RELIEF  OFFICIALS  145 

Code  of  1851.  In  that  Code  the  trustees  were  given 
coordinate  authority  with  the  directors  of  the  poor- 
house  in  applying  to  the  county  court  for  an  order 
to  compel  a  relative  to  support  a  pauper.  It  appears 
that  in  every  Code  of  the  State  the  trustees  have 
been  among  the  authorities  empowered  to  warn  pros- 
pective paupers  to  depart,  and  to  grant  admission  to 
the  county  poorhouse.187  Moreover,  in  the  Code  of 
1851  and  the  Revision  of  1860  the  township  trustees 
of  the  county  where  the  pauper  had  his  settlement 
were  constituted  coordinate  authorities  with  the 
directors  to  whom  could  be  delivered  a  pauper  who 
was  removed  from  a  county  where  he  had  no  settle- 
ment.188 They  had  the  oversight  and  care,  further- 
more, in  counties  which  possessed  no  poorhouse,  of 
all  poor  persons  so  long  as  such  persons  remained 
county  charges,  and  until  provided  for  by  the  county 
supervisors.189  They  supervised  the  employment  of 
paupers  by  a  contractor,  subject  to  the  ultimate  con- 
trol of  the  county  judge  under  the  Code  of  1851,  and 
of  the  county  supervisors  under  the  Revision  of  1860 
and  the  Code  of  1873 ;  while  the  Code  of  1897  placed 
such  control  in  the  hands  of  the  supervisors  pri- 
marily, although  they  might  commit  the  subject  to 
the  care  of  the  trustees.190 

It  was  to  the  township  trustees,  according  to  the 
Code  of  1851,  that  the  poor  must  make  application 
for  relief ;  and  such  trustees  had  the  authority  to  re- 
lieve the  persons  temporarily  and  make  reports  of 
all  cases  to  the  judge  forthwith.  Thereafter  they 
were  governed  in  further  relations  with  the  paupers 


146      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

by  the  orders  of  the  judge.  These  authorities  certi- 
fied to  the  judge  all  claims  and  bills  for  the  relief  of 
the  poor;  while  their  refusal  to  grant  relief  was  sub- 
ject to  review  by  the  county  judge  on  appeal.191  In 
subsequent  legislation,  although  there  were  some 
minor  changes  tending  towards  greater  control  by 
the  county  authorities,  the  chief  change  was  the  sub- 
stitution of  the  supervisors  for  the  county  judge. 

Moreover,  in  granting  relief  outside  of  the  poor- 
house,  or  in  issuing  an  order  of  admission  to  that  in- 
stitution, their  actions  had  to  be  reported  at  once  to 
the  directors  of  the  poorhouse  and  were  subject  to 
review  by  these  authorities.192  To  make  sure  that  the 
trustees  would  be  duly  subordinated  to  the  county 
authorities,  the  supervisors  or  their  appointees,  the 
poorhouse  directors,  it  was  further  provided  in  the 
Code  of  1851  that  "the  directors  are  also  invested 
with  all  powers  before  given  to  the  trustees  of  town- 
ships in  relation  to  the  poor. ' ' 193  Thus  the  trustees 
looked  after  outdoor,  and  the  directors  after  indoor, 
relief. 

The  Code  of  1873  made  little  change  in  the  duties 
of  the  trustees  as  regards  poor  relief.  The  sheriff, 
however,  took  the  place  of  the  directors  of  the  poor- 
house as  a  coordinate  authority  with  the  trustees  in 
forcing  support  of  paupers  by  relatives.  It  was  they, 
nevertheless,  who  were  made  responsible  for  the  re- 
lief of  all  such  persons  as  in  their  judgment  should 
not  be  sent  to  the  poorhouse,  except  in  cities  of  the 
first  and  second  classes,  where  an  overseer  might  be 
appointed.194  In  counties  having  no  poorhouse  they 


TOWNSHIP  AND  CITY  RELIEF  OFFICIALS  147 

had  charge  of  the  poor  only  "until  provided  for  by 
the  board  of  supervisors. ' ' 195  This  Code  added  the 
provision  that  no  trustee  could  draw  an  order  on 
himself  or  on  any  member  of  the  board  for  supplies 
for  the  poor  unless  he  had  a  contract  to  furnish  such 
supplies.196 

Since  the  directors  of  the  poorhouse  did  not  ap- 
pear among  the  poor  relief  officials  listed  in  this 
Code  of  1873,  the  supervisors  were  substituted  for 
them  in  the  provision  requiring  the  trustees  to  re- 
port to  them  any  relief  they  might  give  outside  the 
poorhouse;  while  the  requirement  that  the  trustees 
must  report  that  they  had  issued  orders  for  admis- 
sion to  the  poorhouse  was  omitted  entirely.197  In 
fact,  they  could  issue  such  orders  without  review  by 
the  board  of  supervisors. 198  In  this  respect  the  Code 
represents  a  transition  stage  of  development.  In 
the  Code  of  1851  the  county  judge,  and  in  the  Re- 
vision of  1860  and  the  Code  of  1897  the  board  of  su- 
pervisors, predominated  in  poor  relief ;  while  in  the 
Code  of  1873  there  were  two  coordinate  authorities 
in  this  respect.  Probably,  however,  this  was  simply 
an  oversight,  for  a  pauper  who  was  refused  relief 
could  still  appeal  from  the  township  trustees  to  the 
county  supervisors.199 

By  the  provisions  of  the  Code  of  1897  the  trustees 
retained  authority  to  direct  that  relief  be  given  by 
relatives  to  paupers  who  had  applied  for  aid ;  to  ap- 
ply to  the  district  court  for  an  order  to  compel  rela- 
tives to  support  paupers ;  to  apply  for  a  variation  of 
the  court  order  against  relatives  of  paupers ;  to  make 


148      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

affidavit  to  the  court  of  the  fact  when  a  relative  or- 
dered to  do  so  had  not  paid  money  ordered  by  the 
court ;  and  to  make  complaint  upon  application  to  the 
clerk  of  the  court  or  to  the  judge  for  an  order  to 
seize  the  property  of  a  deserting  father,  mother,  or 
husband.  They,  or  the  supervisors,  continued  to 
serve  written  warning  to  depart  to  prospective 
paupers  with  settlement  elsewhere. 

Subject  to  general  rules  which  might  be  adopted 
by  the  county  supervisors,  the  township  trustees 
were  charged  with  the  duty  of  providing  for  the  re- 
lief of  poor  persons  whom  they  thought  should  not 
be  sent  to  the  poorhouse  and  for  all  persons  in  coun- 
ties having  no  such  institution,  until  provided  for  by 
the  supervisors. 

It  was  further  stipulated  in  the  Code  of  1897, 
against  the  recommendations  of  the  code  commis- 
sion, that  the  trustees  should  continue  to  require 
able-bodied  persons  applying  for  relief  to  work  upon 
the  streets  and  highways  at  five  cents  per  hour  in 
payment  for  relief  given.  No  trustee  was  permitted 
to  be  directly  or  indirectly  interested  in  any  supplies 
furnished  the  poor  —  a  new  provision  which  went 
much  farther  than  the  provisions  of  the  Code  of  1873, 
forbidding  a  trustee  to  draw  an  order  upon  himself 
unless  he  had  a  contract  to  furnish  supplies.  The 
trustees  remained  the  authorities  to  whom  applica- 
tion must  be  made,  who  passed  upon  the  application, 
and  who,  if  satisfied  that  relief  was  required,  granted 
it,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  county  supervisors. 
To  the  latter  they  were  to  report  the  case  immedi- 


TOWNSHIP  AND  CITY  RELIEF  OFFICIALS  149 

ately.  The  legislature  also  incorporated  in  the  Code 
of  1897  the  provisions  of  the  law  of  the  Twenty- 
second  General  Assembly,  giving  the  supervisors  the 
right  to  examine  all  claims  presented  by  the  trustees 
for  the  support  of  the  poor,  and  to  reject  or  diminish 
them  if  they  found  that  the  goods  or  services  ex- 
ceeded what  was  needed  to  supply  the  necessaries  of 
life.  This  provision  was  to  apply  to  all  counties  in 
the  State  whether  they  had  poorhouses  or  not,  and 
to  the  acts  of  overseers  of  the  poor  as  well  as  of 
township  trustees.  All  claims  and  bills,  as  before, 
had  to  be  certified  to  be  correct  and  presented  to  the 
supervisors.  The  applicant,  if  refused  relief  by  the 
trustees,  could  still  appeal  to  the  county  supervisors. 

The  section  dealing  with  the  employment  of  paup- 
ers by  a  contractor  was  so  changed  in  the  Code  of 
1897  that  authority  was  more  completely  centralized 
in  the  hands  of  the  supervisors.  The  township 
trustees,  however,  continued,  coordinately  with  the 
supervisors,  to  admit  people  to  the  poorhouse. 

Finally,  the  Code  of  1897  contained  a  new  section 
providing  that  the  word  "trustees"  should  be  con- 
strued so  as  to  include  and  mean  any  person  or  of- 
ficer of  any  county  or  city  charged  with  the  oversight 
of  the  poor  —  a  provision  which,  from  the  references 
to  the  other  Codes  appended  to  that  section,  seems  to 
have  been  meant  simply  to  transfer  to  a  separate 
section  the  provisions  of  the  last  clause  of  Section 
1333  of  the  Code  of  1873.™ 

If  one  considers  the  whole  history  of  legislation  on 
the  relation  of  township  trustees  to  the  relief  of  the 


150      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

poor  in  Iowa,  State  and  Territory,  it  becomes  ap- 
parent that  the  part  played  by  these  officials,  from 
the  legislative  standpoint,  has  been  one  of  diminish- 
ing importance.  Their  other  duties  have  encroached 
upon  their  efficiency  as  relief  officials.  This  fact,  to- 
gether with  the  circumstances  that  they  were  usually 
under  the  control  of  county  relief  officials  and  that 
other  officers  gradually  were  given  their  duties 
largely  accounts  for  their  decreased  importance  in 
the  plan  of  poor  relief. 


From  the  standpoint  of  historical  development  the 
overseer  of  the  poor  is  the  oldest  of  all  the  poor  re- 
lief officials  in  the  history  of  Iowa,  Originating  in 
England  in  1572,  with  the  purpose  of  securing  the 
better  organization  of  the  collection  and  distribution 
of  the  common  fund  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  which 
had  been  gradually  developing  in  the  English  par- 
ishes, this  official  was  imported  from  England  into 
American  poor  relief  systems  in  colonial  days.201  He 
appears  in  the  first  poor  law  of  the  Northwest  Ter- 
ritory, that  of  November  6, 1790 ;  while  in  the  second 
law  of  that  Territory,  borrowed  from  Pennsylvania, 
he  occupied  a  still  more  important  place.202  In  both 
of  these  statutes  English  usage  was  predominant. 
In  the  first  poor  law  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  that 
of  1840,  (borrowed  from  Wisconsin,  as  has  been 
seen),  there  were  no  overseers;  but  in  the  law  bor- 
rowed from  Ohio  two  years  later  Iowa  first  obtained 
these  relief  officials.203  By  the  act  of  June  5,  1845, 


TOWNSHIP  AND  CITY  RELIEF  OFFICIALS  151 

the  township  trustees  were  made  ex  officio  overseers 
of  the  poor,  thus  for  the  time  being  eliminating  the 
overseer.20* 

In  the  Code  of  1851  the  overseer  of  the  poor  is 
mentioned  but  twice ; 205  and  the  two  functions  of  the 
office  were  to  remove  to  the  county  of  his  usual  resi- 
dence a  pauper  who  asked  to  be  so  removed,  and  to 
have  general  oversight  of  paupers  employed  by  the 
person  who  had  the  contract  for  the  care  of  the  poor. 
In  this  Code  the  term  ''overseer"  is  synonymous 
with  township  trustee.  Only  the  name  remained: 
the  duties  had  been  assumed  by  other  officials.  In 
the  Revision  of  1860  this  strange  survival  of  a  pre- 
vious practice  was  retained  as  in  the  Code  of  1851.206 

The  Code  of  1873  entirely  omitted  the  matter  con- 
tained in  Section  1392  of  the  Revision  of  1860 ;  and 
mention  of  the  overseer  in  connection  with  the  con- 
tractor was  likewise  eliminated.207  With  reference 
to  the  first  omission  the  code  commission  said  in  ex- 
planation : 

Rev.  §  1392  is  omitted  as  needless  if  not  conflicting  with 
the  entire  scope  and  object  of  the  settlement  law.  Happily 
these  laws  have  heretofore  been  almost  superfluous,  and  de- 
fects in  them  have  attracted  no  attention.  But  with  a  rap- 
idly increasing  population,  and  its  inevitable  results,  they 
will  have  to  be  more  strictly  enforced :  and  it  will  then  be 
seen  to  be  a  mere  waste  of  money  to  send  a  pauper  from 
one  county  to  another  unless  he  has  a  settlement  in  the  lat- 
ter, and  therefore  a  legal  claim  to  relief.  Besides  it  will 
lead  to  disputes  and  litigation  between  the  counties  if  re- 
tained.208 


152      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

In  the  Code  of  1873,  however,  there  reappeared  in 
a  new  role  this  ancient  official.  By  the  act  of  April  6, 
1868,  city  councils  of  cities  of  the  first  class  em- 
braced within  the  limits  of  townships  were  author- 
ized to  render  relief  to  their  poor  who  were  not  sent 
to  the  county  poorhouse,  in  much  the  same  way  as 
the  township  trustees  cared  for  those  outside  such 
cities.  This  new  provision  divided  authority  in  some 
cases  and  led  to  disputes  between  city  and  county 
poor  relief  authorities.  At  the  same  time  it  imposed 
an  irksome  duty  upon  the  city  council.  And  so,  it 
seemed  best  to  the  commission  which  prepared  the 
Code  of  1873  that  this  division  of  authority  should 
be  eliminated,  that  the  control  of  the  poor  relief  in 
cities  should  be  left  in  the  hands  of  the  county  of- 
ficials, and  that  the  latter  should  handle  the  problem 
of  out-relief  in  cities  by  the  appointment  of  special 
overseers  of  the  poor  in  cities  of  either  the  first  or 
second  classes.209  The  overseer  thus  provided  for 
was  given  all  the  powers  and  duties  of  township 
trustees  relative  to  poor  relief.  Thus,  after  his  prac- 
tical disappearance  from  the  list  of  poor  relief  offi- 
cials of  Iowa  for  thirty-three  years,  the  overseer 
found  a  new  place  and  new  duties  in  Iowa's  system 
of  poor  relief.210 

In  the  Code  of  1897  no  changes  were  made  in  these 
provisions,  save  to  make  the  section  apply  also  to 
cities  situated  in  two  counties.211  To-day,  therefore, 
in  the  poor  relief  system  of  Iowa  the  township 
trustees  are  overseers  of  the  poor  for  townships  out- 
side of  cities  of  the  first  or  second  classes ;  while  in 


TOWNSHIP  AND  CITY  RELIEF  OFFICIALS  153 

cities  of  the  first  and  second  class  there  is  a  special 
overseer  of  the  poor.  In  both  cases  these  officers 
are  under  the  direction  of  the  county  supervisors. 

In  the  law  providing  for  overseers  for  cities  an 
effort  was  made  to  suit  the  administrative  machinery 
to  the  situation  in  the  rapidly  growing  cities  of  the 
State,  for  in  these  centers  the  old  system  had  broken 
down.  Township  trustees  and  county  supervisors 
might  do  well  enough  in  a  frontier  county  having  but 
a  few  hundred  inhabitants,  where  every  one  was 
known  to  the  officials,  at  least  by  reputation.  But  in  a 
populous  county,  with  an  unstable  population  gather- 
ed together  in  a  city,  where  large  numbers  of  the  peo- 
ple might  speak  a  foreign  language  and  where  most 
of  the  inhabitants  were  unknown  to  anyone  but  the 
" ward-heeler"  or  the  missionary,  the  old  neighbor- 
hood conception  of  life  was  too  simple.  Moreover, 
the  county  supervisors  were,  with  the  growth  of  pop- 
ulation, forced  to  give  their  attention  increasingly 
to  other  matters.  Thus,  the  office  of  city  overseer  of 
the  poor  was  created. 

How  unscientific,  however,  was  the  conception  that 
one  overseer,  unassisted,  could  by  any  method  known 
to  man  become  acquainted  with  all  the  people  in  a 
city  of  the  first  class  well  enough  to  enable  him  to 
relieve  applicants  with  discrimination!  In  actual 
administration  it  was  even  too  much  to  expect  su- 
pervisors to  appoint  to  this  office  an  expert  in  char- 
itable work.  The  person  chosen  was  doubtless  a  good 
man,  honest,  and  sympathetic,  but  often  he  was  eith- 
er old  or  crippled  so  that  he  found  it  difficult  to  get 


154      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

about  and  investigate  conditions ;  and  in  most  cases 
he  lacked  the  qualifications  necessary  for  scientific 
poor  relief. 

The  result  can  be  easily  guessed.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances relief  in  the  homes  of  the  poor  by  the 
public  overseer  is  apt  to  be  either  wasteful  or  inad- 
equate, and  usually  both  —  being  wasteful  in  the 
cases  of  persons  who  have  a  political  or  personal 
"pull",  and  inadequate  in  those  cases  where  the  in- 
dividuals are  friendless  or  whose  friends  are  not 
close  to  "the  powers  that  be".  Usually  the  overseer 
is  jealous  of  organized  charity  workers ;  and  in  this 
attitude  he  has  the  support  of  the  supervisors.  In 
a  very  few  cases  the  overseer  turns  over  his  cases  to 
the  Associated  Charities  of  his  city  for  investigation. 
Those  instances,  however,  are  all  too  rare. 

At  the  same  time  it  is  perhaps  true  that  with  slight 
changes  this  plan  of  poor  relief  by  city  overseers 
would  work  well.  In  the  first  place  the  overseer 
should  be  appointed  on  his  merits  as  an  up-to-date 
relief  expert,  and  he  should  be  given  paid  and  trained 
assistants,  or,  as  in  the  Elberfeld-Hamburg  system 
of  Germany,  he  should  be  assisted  by  a  large  number 
of  volunteer  helpers  each  of  whom  is  given  only  a 
very  small  number  of  needy  to  look  after.  If  he  him- 
self is  not  a  trained  relief  worker,  there  is  one  al- 
ternative :  if  there  is  an  Associated  Charities  organ- 
ization in  the  city,  he  should  be  given  to  understand 
that  he  must  turn  his  cases  over  to  that  organization 
with  its  trained  workers  for  investigation;  while  in 
the  treatment  of  each  applicant  for  relief  he  must 


TOWNSHIP  AND  CITY  RELIEF  OFFICIALS  155 

follow  the  course  suggested  by  these  workers.  In 
this  way  the  county  would  be  provided  with  expert 
treatment  of  poverty  without  any  increase  in  the  tax 
budget,  since  such  a  plan  would  obviate  the  necessity 
of  providing  the  overseer  with  trained  assistants  at 
county  expense. 

To  any  one  who  has  thoroughly  considered  the  sub- 
ject, however,  this  solution  of  the  problem  would  be 
merely  a  makeshift.  While  private  philanthropy 
was  necessary  in  the  relief  of  poverty  until  such 
time  as  the  methods  of  poor  relief  were  standardized, 
no  self-respecting  Commonwealth  can  permanently 
abandon  the  most  important  part  of  the  administra- 
tion of  its  relief  of  the  poor  to  private  agencies. 
That  would  be  to  confess  that  the  public  can  not, 
with  its  great  resources,  secure  what  private  organ- 
izations have  secured  with  their  voluntary  and  often 
meagre  support.  Moreover,  it  is  to  profess  that  that 
community  is  the  better  off  which  pays  for  these 
services  out  of  private  contributions  rather  than  out 
of  public  taxes ;  and  it  is  also  to  admit  that  the  pub- 
lic can  not,  or  should  not,  secure  as  expert  service  in 
the  relief  of  the  poor  as  a  private  association  ob- 
tains. The  skepticism  of  the  charity  worker  con- 
cerning the  possibility  of  having  expert  public  relief 
must  pass  away.  The  feeling  against  scientific  pub- 
lic poor  relief  is  the  outworn  prejudice  of  a  day  that 
is  almost  gone.  It  has  served  its  purpose;  it  has 
established  private  standards  which  even  now  are 
becoming  recognized  by  broad-minded  public  relief 
officials.  We  must  not  abandon  the  public  relief  of- 


156      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

ficial  to  his  ignorance  and  folly:  he  must  be  re- 
deemed. Public  relief  must  cease  to  be  the  synonym 
of  pauperization.  It  should  be  made  to  mean  ade- 
quate relief  after  careful  investigation  and  service 
in  the  rehabilitation  of  people  who  are  now  or  are 
about  to  become  paupers.  Two  pivotal  factors  in 
this  program  of  reform  are  the  overseer  in  the  cities 
and  the  supervisors  who  appoint  and  support  him. 


IX 

THE  POOEHOUSE  IN  IOWA  POOR  BELIEF 
LEGISLATION 

The  early  poorhouse  laws  of  America  were  bor- 
rowed from  England,  the  chief  features  being  copied 
from  the  great  act  of  Elizabeth  (43  Eliz.  c.  2)212  and 
from  later  English  acts.  The  English  idea  of  a  work- 
house, however,  was  adopted  in  America  later  than 
the  period  when  the  laws  were  made  upon  which  the 
legislators  of  Iowa  drew  for  models.213  When  Iowa 
became  a  State  the  establishment  and  conduct  of 
poorhouses  were  governed  by  the  law  borrowed  from 
Ohio  by  the  Territorial  legislature  in  1842  —  a  law 
which  remained  upon  the  statute  books  until  the 
adoption  of  the  Code  of  1851.  The  chief  character- 
istics of  that  law  have  already  been  pointed  out.214 
It  is  perhaps  sufficient  in  this  connection  to  state 
that  it  possessed  the  involved  features  of  adminis- 
tration which  had  been  developed  in  Ohio  on  the 
basis  of  the  English  poorhouse  system  borrowed  by 
Ohio  from  Pennsylvania;  that  it  was  introduced  into 
Iowa  without  serious  consideration  of  its  adaptabili- 
ty to  the  pioneer  conditions  prevailing  in  the  Terri- 
tory in  1842 ;  and  that  experience  showed  it  to  be  illy 
fitted  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  young  Commonwealth. 

157 


158      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

Its  involved  machinery  of  administration  made  it  un- 
wieldy. 

This  machinery  consisted  of  the  county  commis- 
sioners, who  governed  the  poorhouse  only  indirectly 
through  a  board  of  directors  appointed  by  them ;  of 
a  monthly  visitor  appointed  from  among  the  mem- 
bers of  the  board  of  county  commissioners;  and  of 
the  directors,  who  appointed  the  superintendent  in 
immediate  charge  of  the  poorhouse.  The  system  of 
reports  from  the  superintendent  to  the  directors, 
then  from  the  directors  to  the  county  commissioners, 
and  the  monthly  inspection  directly  by  one  of  the 
commissioners  made  the  law  too  complicated  for 
efficient  administration  in  a  community  where  the 
conditions  were  simple  and  the  needs  few.  The 
board  of  directors,  organized  as  a  body  politic  and 
corporate  with  the  members  taking  office  by  a  solemn 
oath  or  affirmation  to  properly  perform  their  duties, 
issuing  its  orders  for  the  admission  or  discharge 
of  inmates  after  careful  examination  to  ascertain 
whether  the  applicant  had  a  legal  settlement  in  that 
county,  but  receiving  the  application  for  admission 
not  directly  but  through  the  township  trustees  — 
such  a  board  was  certainly  a  creation  worthy  of  some 
eastern  potentate  bent  upon  devising  the  trappings 
of  "majesty  that  doth  hedge  a  throne",  but  was 
hardly  suited  to  the  democracy  of  pioneers  in  log 
cabins  on  the  lonely  prairies  or  along  the  forest-clad 
banks  of  the  rivers  of  Iowa  from  1842  to  1851. 

The  sections  in  the  Code  of  1851  dealing  with  the 
poorhouse  were  for  the  most  part  taken  from  the 


THE  POORHOUSE  IN  IOWA  159 

Iowa  law  of  1842  or  from  the  earlier  legislation  of 
Michigan  Territory  or  Ohio.  Not  a  single  section 
finds  precedent  in  the  Wisconsin  Territorial  law.  By 
reference  to  the  table  given  below  in  the  Appendix 
it  will  be  seen  that  all  the  sections  but  five  (828,  829, 
830,  834,  838)  are  based  upon  provisions  in  the  law 
of  1842.  Of  these  five  sections  two  have  close  rela- 
tionship with  the  Michigan  poorhouse  laws,  while 
three  seem  to  be  absolute  innovations.  The  new  sec- 
tions, however,  did  not  change  the  essential  features 
of  the  existing  law  relating  to  poorhouses,  although 
some  minor  changes  were  introduced. 

The  supremacy  of  the  county  judge  in  the  estab- 
lishment and  administration  of  the  poorhouse  stands 
out  as  the  chief  difference  between  the  provisions  of 
the  Code  of  1851  and  the  law  of  1842.  The  appoint- 
ment of  a  board  of  directors  was  left  to  the  option 
of  the  judge  —  a  change  in  the  direction  of  sim- 
plicity. The  approval  of  a  proposed  expenditure 
for  a  poorhouse  by  the  voters  put  a  limit  on  the  al- 
most absolute  power  vested  in  the  judge,  which 
power  in  relation  to  the  establishment  of  poorhouses 
had  been  vested  without  limitation  in  the  county 
commissioners  by  the  earlier  law.  This  new  feature 
was  borrowed  from  the  Michigan  law  of  1829.  For 
the  term  "superintendent"  was  substituted  " stew- 
ard" of  the  poorhouse  —  a  new  term  in  the  legisla- 
tion of  the  group  of  States  and  Territories  from 
which  Iowa  had  thus  far  borrowed  legislation.  When 
a  trustee  gave  relief  outside  of  the  poorhouse  or  is- 
sued an  order  for  admission  to  the  poorhouse,  he  was 


160      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

required  immediately  to  notify  the  directors,  a  meas- 
ure intended  to  concentrate  relief  in  the  poorhouse 
more  closely.  Aside  from  these  alterations  the 
changes  made  by  the  Code  of  1851  were  chiefly  verbal 
or  matters  of  arrangement. 

When  one  makes  a  comparison  of  the  law  regu- 
lating the  county  poorhouse  as  found  in  the  Code  of 
1851  with  the  law  enacted  on  this  subject  at  later  ses- 
sions of  the  General  Assembly  he  is  struck  by  the  re- 
markable fact  that  very  little  change  has  occurred. 
It  is  true  that  the  county  judge  disappeared  as  the 
primary  administrative  officer,  but  that  change  was 
incidental  to  the  overthrow  of  the  county  judge  sys- 
tem. All  that  occurred  was  that  the  board  of  county 
supervisors  took  over  his  functions.  The  Civil  War 
brought  in  some  changes  as  to  the  admission  of  cer- 
tain classes  of  unfortunates  to  the  poorhouse,  which 
tended  to  recognize  the  stigma  attaching  to  that  in- 
stitution and  helped  to  accentuate  the  abhorrence 
felt  for  the  poorhouse  as  a  result  of  seventy  years  of 
history.  In  recent  years,  moreover,  a  futile  effort 
has  been  made  to  change  the  character  of  the  institu- 
tion by  changing  its  name.  Of  radical  changes  in  its 
organization,  its  discipline,  its  general  management, 
or  its  essential  character,  there  have  been  none. 

The  Revision  of  1860  made  no  changes  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  county  poorhouse  except  such  as 
were  made  necessary  by  the  passage  of  the  law  of 
that  year  which  abolished  the  office  of  county  judge 
and  substituted  the  board  of  county  supervisors.  In 
fact,  with  one  exception,  the  only  change  made  in  the 


THE  POOKHOUSE  IN  IOWA  161 

poor  laws  by  the  Revision  of  1860  was  the  insertion 
of  a  section  of  definitions  at  the  beginning  of  the 
chapter  dealing  with  that  subject,  stating  that  wher- 
ever in  the  law  the  words  " court"  or  "judge"  were 
used  they  were  to  mean  "board  of  supervisors".215 

THE  CITY  INFIBMABY 

The  exception  in  the  Revision  of  1860  mentioned 
above  was  a  provision  in  the  chapter  on  the  incor- 
poration of  cities  and  towns  which  gave  to  the  city 
council  the  power  to  erect,  establish,  maintain,  and 
regulate  an  infirmary  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
poor  of  the  city,  either  within  the  limits  of  the  city  or 
within  the  county  in  which  the  city  might  be  situ- 
ated ;  and  for  that  purpose  the  city  might  purchase 
or  hold  the  necessary  real  estate.  The  government 
of  this  infirmary  and  the  granting  of  outdoor  relief 
as  well  were  committed  to  a  board  of  three  directors 
to  be  elected  by  the  qualified  voters  of  the  city  and 
to  hold  office  for  three  years.  The  city  council  might 
provide  for  the  election  of,  or  it  might  order  the  di- 
rectors to  appoint,  an  overseer  in  each  ward  to  per- 
form such  duties  in  the  care  of  the  poor  and  in  their 
removal  to  the  infirmary  as  the  council  might  pro- 
vide. This  provision  was  obtained  by  simply  incor- 
porating into  the  Code  one  section  of  an  act  approved 
on  March  23,  1858.216 

This  section,  moreover,  inaugurated  a  new  kind  of 
a  poorhouse  and  a  new  method  of  outdoor  poor  relief. 
It  was  an  attempt  to  adapt  the  outgrown  county  sys- 
tem to  new  conditions  in  growing  centers  of  popula- 


162      POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

tion  —  but  it  was  about  fifty  years  ahead  of  the  date 
when  it  might  have  had  a  chance  to  succeed.  At  the 
same  time  the  law  possessed  some  promising  feat- 
ures. It  provided  for  a  board  of  directors,  and  for 
an  overseer  over  a  small  section  of  the  city  who 
should  have  been  able  to  become  acquainted  with  the 
needy  of  his  ward.  It  promised,  thus,  to  give  to  the 
city  an  officer  with  that  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
poor  which  was  possessed  by  the  rural  overseer,  the 
township  trustee  —  an  acquaintance  which  was  the 
prime  factor  in  the  success  of  the  rural  overseer  of 
the  poor  and  of  the  friendly  visitor  in  the  city,  and 
which  has  been  the  chief  explanation  of  the  favor- 
able attention  attracted  by  the  Elberfeld-Hamburg 
system  of  poor  relief  in  Germany. 

But  the  law  had  within  it  the  seeds  of  its  undoing 
in  that  it  was  essentially  a  political  system.  The 
directors  were  elected,  and  the  council  had  control 
over  the  appointment  of  the  overseers.  The  cheap 
demagogue,  or  the  man  unable  to  do  anything  else, 
and  not  the  expert  in  relief  work,  would  naturally  be 
the  one  chosen  as  overseer  under  this  law.  Further- 
more, the  law  was  too  complicated  for  the  state  of 
social  development  which  Iowa  had  then  reached. 

In  the  Code  of  1873  this  provision  was  reduced  to 
a  single  sentence  giving  the  city  council  power  to 
establish  and  maintain  an  infirmary  for  the  poor  of 
the  city  and  to  distribute  the  outdoor  relief  to  the 
city's  poor.  Nothing  was  said  about  directors  or 
overseers.217 


THE  POORHOUSE  IN  IOWA  163 

It  is  highly  probable  that  the  powers  thus  given 
to  the  city  council  of  providing  a  city  infirmary  were 
never  exercised,  for  the  code  commissioners  in  1873 
could  say  that  they  had  omitted  all  the  provisions  of 
that  chapter  relative  to  directors  of  the  poorhouse 
as  superfluous  and  practically  obsolete,  and  could  ex- 
press the  belief  that  no  such  board  did  as  a  matter 
of  fact  exist.218  While  they  were  writing  directly 
concerning  county  poorhouses,  it  is  hardly  possible 
that  a  city  poorhouse  or  infirmary  had  been  estab- 
lished with  a  board  of  directors  between  1858  and 
1873,  if  no  county  —  with  the  possibility  of  a  larger 
number  of  paupers  —  had  organized  such  a  board 
during  the  longer  period  between  1851  and  1873. 
This  supposition  is  the  more  probable  by  reason  of 
the  comment  made  by  the  code  commission  on  an- 
other part  of  the  same  chapter,  relating  to  outdoor 
poor  relief.  In  discussing  the  changes  which  they 
proposed  in  the  act  of  the  Twelfth  General  Assembly 
granting  cities  of  the  first  class  the  right  to  handle 
their  own  outdoor  relief  through  the  city  councils, 
the  commission  remarked  that  they  made  the  pro- 
posed changes  because  it  was  understood  that  the 
duty  thus  imposed  upon  the  council  was  irksome  and 
led  to  collision  or  dispute  between  the  city  and  coun- 
ty authorities.219  The  probabilities  are  that  the  only 
existence  that  city  infirmaries  with  a  board  of  direc- 
tors ever  had  under  these  provisions  was  a  paper 
existence.  At  any  rate  the  Code  of  1873,  while  still 
making  such  an  institution  possible  in  the  section 


164      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

relating  to  the  powers  of  city  councils,  made  no  pro- 
vision for  it  in  the  chapter  devoted  to  the  relief  of 
the  poor.220 


Provision  for  directors  of  the  poorhouse  was  made 
in  the  Territorial  law  of  1842,  which  remained  in 
force  in  the  State  until  superseded  by  the  Code  of 
1851.221  Under  this  Code,  these  officials  were  re- 
tained, although  they  were  appointed  by  the  county 
judge  at  his  discretion.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  how- 
ever, the  code  commission  of  1873  was  unable  to 
discover  that  any  such  officers  had  ever  been  appoint- 
ed. They  therefore  discarded  from  their  report  the 
provision  for  directors  of  the  poorhouse,  with  the 
result  that  after  1873  such  officials  were  no  longer 
included  in  Iowa's  poor  laws.  An  examination  of 
the  legislation  providing  for  directors  will,  however, 
serve  a  useful  purpose,  if  it  does  nothing  more  than 
show  how  illy  adapted  were  the  early  laws  to  cir- 
cumstances in  Iowa:  it  will,  perchance,  reveal  the 
defects  of  the  easy  method  of  borrowing  laws  with- 
out a  consideration  of  their  adaptability  to  condi- 
tions in  the  Commonwealth  for  which  they  are  in- 
tended. 

In  the  Territorial  statute  of  1842  and  in  the  Code 
of  1851  the  directors  of  the  poorhouse  were  declared 
to  be  a  body  corporate  and  politic,  they  were  to  take 
an  oath  of  office  faithfully  to  discharge  their  duties, 
and  were  to  appoint  a  clerk.  They  were  to  be  the 
actual  governing  body  of  the  institution.  In  both 


THE  POORHOUSE  IN  IOWA  165 

statutes  they  were  authorized  to  make  all  contracts 
and  purchases  for  the  poorhouse  and  to  prescribe 
such  rules  and  regulations  as  they  thought  best  for 
the  management  of  that  institution  and  for  the  guid- 
ance of  the  superintendent  or  steward.  According 
to  both  they  had  the  authority  to  bind  out  such  poor 
children  of  the  poorhouse  as  were  likely  to  be  a  per- 
manent charge  upon  the  public  —  males  until  twenty- 
one  and  females  until  eighteen  years  of  age,  unless 
sooner  married,  or  for  shorter  periods,  if  it  was 
thought  best.  Again  the  directors  were  to  cause  the 
poorhouse  to  be  visited  once  each  month  by  a  mem- 
ber of  their  body  to  ascertain  whether  or  not  the 
paupers  were  being  properly  cared  for,  and  to  in- 
spect the  books  and  accounts  of  the  superintendent 
or  steward.  Both  statutes  required  the  board  of 
directors  to  report  the  conditions  of  the  poorhouse, 
in  the  one  case  to  the  county  commissioners  and  in 
the  other  to  the  county  court. 

According  to  the  Territorial  law  the  county  com- 
missioners must  appoint  the  directors;  while  the 
Code  of  1851  made  their  appointment  optional  with 
the  county  judge.  In  the  former  law  the  number  of 
directors  was  fixed  at  three  " judicious  persons";  in 
the  latter,  either  one  or  three  might  be  appointed. 
The  law  of  1842  gave  the  board  no  option  as  to 
whether  they  should  appoint  a  superintendent  of  the 
poorhouse ;  while  the  Code  of  1851  gave  the  directors 
discretionary  power.  The  former  act  stipulated  that 
no  person  was  to  be  admitted  to  the  poorhouse  ex- 
cept upon  the  written  order  of  the  trustees  or  the 


166      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

county  commissioners ;  while  according  to  the  latter 
law  admission  was  made  upon  the  order  of  a  town- 
ship trustee,  a  director,  or  the  county  judge.  Fur- 
ther examples  of  the  differences  between  the  two  laws 
are  perhaps  unnecessary.  The  Code  of  1851  was 
simpler,  less  rigid,  and  better  fitted  to  be  of  use,  had 
there  been  any  need  of  such  machinery.  To  the  di- 
rectors in  both  cases  was  delegated,  for  the  manage- 
ment of  the  poorhouse,  the  power  of  the  primary 
relief  authorities,  namely,  the  county  commissioners 
in  the  former  law  and  the  county  judge  in  the  Code 
of  1851.  With  the  disappearance  of  the  directors, 
their  duties  fell  directly  upon  the  board  of  county 
supervisors.222 

Nothing  could  better  illustrate  the  manner  in 
which  some  of  the  poor  laws  of  Iowa  were  secured : 
they  were  taken  ready-made  from  the  statute  books 
of  other  jurisdictions.  Furthermore,  nothing  indi- 
cates better  the  wholesome  optimism  concerning  the 
future  development  of  the  State,  combined  with  the 
reprehensible  carelessness  which  was  characteristic 
of  the  early  law-makers,  than  these  laws  providing 
for  institutions  and  a  scheme  of  management  which 
were  at  least  fifty  years  ahead  of  the  times,  and 
which  were  lacking  in  many  of  the  elements  that 
would  fit  them  to  the  stage  of  social  development 
then  reached  by  the  State. 

THE  SUPEEINTENDENT  OE  STEWARD  OF  THE  POORHOUSE 

The  other  subordinate  authority  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  poorhouse,  and  one  who  was  actually 


THE  POORHOUSE  IN  IOWA  167 

appointed  and  performed  his  functions,  was  the  per- 
son in  immediate  charge  thereof,  called  the  ' '  super- 
intendent" up  to  1851,  and  since  that  date  known  as 
the  " steward". 

The  Territorial  law  which  was  in  force  in  the  State 
until  1851  and  the  Code  adopted  in  that  year,  had 
common  provisions  relative  to  this  official.  He  was 
governed  by  the  directors,  gave  what  security  they 
demanded,  was  paid  what  they  thought  proper,  and 
was  subject  to  removal  at  their  pleasure.  He  might 
require  of  all  persons  admitted  such  reasonable  and 
moderate  labor  as  was  suited  to  their  ages  and  bodily 
strength.  The  proceeds  of  this  labor  were  to  inure 
to  the  benefit  of  the  institution,  as  the  directors 
might  determine.  He  was  to  admit  only  those  who 
brought  to  him  an  order  from  the  proper  authorities. 
He  was  to  enter  in  a  book  the  names  of  all  persons 
admitted,  with  their  ages  and  the  dates  of  their  re- 
spective receptions  to  the  institution;  and  his  work 
and  his  accounts  were  to  be  inspected  once  a  month 
by  the  directors. 

The  only  differences  between  these  two  statutes 
relative  to  this  officer  were  in  minor  details.  The 
Territorial  provisions  are  somewhat  more  detailed, 
but  the  Code  of  1851  had  practically  every  feature 
of  the  earlier  law  with  respect  to  the  superintendent 
or  steward.223 

The  only  change  made  in  the  duties  of  the  steward, 
in  the  Code  of  1873  was  the  introduction  of  a  clause 
requiring  him  to  appropriate  to  the  use  of  the  insti- 
tution any  proceeds  from  the  farm,  if  there  was  one, 


168      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

as  well  as  from  the  labor  of  the  inmates,224  and  a  pro- 
vision that  committees  of  the  board  should  have  au- 
thority to  impose  regulations  upon  the  steward.225 
In  the  Code  of  1897  no  changes  were  made  in  the 
duties  of  this  official.226 

The  legislative  history  of  the  duties  of  the  steward 
however,  does  not  tell  the  whole  truth.  When  the 
poorhouse  was  first  devised  a  farm  was  not  a  nec- 
essary accompaniment,  even  in  its  earlier  history  in 
America,  and  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  originally  in 
England  under  the  Great  Act  of  Elizabeth  it  was 
located  on  waste  lands  of  the  manor.  With  the 
spread  of  the  poorhouse  system  throughout  the  Mid- 
dle West,  where  there  was  so  much  cheap  land,  the 
idea  occurred  to  some  one  to  locate  the  poorhouse 
upon  a  farm  and  have  the  inmates  work  the  land. 
As  already  noticed,  it  was  not  until  the  enactment 
of  the  Code  of  1873  that  such  an  idea  found  its  way 
into  the  laws  of  Iowa.  Then  the  mention  of  the  farm 
as  a  possible  source  of  revenue  was  introduced  by 
the  qualifying  phrase:  "if  there  be  one".227  With 
the  growing  expense  of  poor  relief  the  primary  re- 
lief authorities  saw  in  the  poor  farm  a  means  of 
supporting  the  poor  without  resort  to  direct  taxa- 
tion. A  growing  emphasis  was  placed  upon  this 
function  of  the  poor  farm  and  the  steward,  whose 
duty  originally  had  been  to  look  after  the  welfare  of 
the  inmates,  now  became  chiefly  a  farmer.  His  suc- 
cess was  judged,  not  by  his  efficiency  primarily  in 
making  the  inmates  comfortable,  in  keeping  such  as 
could  work  happily  employed,  and  in  looking  after 


THE  POORHOUSE  IN  IOWA  169 

the  building,  but  rather  by  his  ability  to  make  the 
farm  pay.  The  very  change  in  the  name  for  this 
officer  is  significant.  A  steward  historically  was  one 
who  had  the  management  of  financial  affairs.  Em- 
phasis upon  the  economic  side  of  the  work  of  the 
steward  has  crowded  out,  to  a  large  degree,  his  at- 
tention to  the  supervision  of  the  poorhouse  and  its 
inmates.228 


Under  the  terms  of  the  Territorial  act  of  1842  the 
pauper's  needs  were  made  known  to  a  township 
trustee.  If  there  was  a  poorhouse  in  the  county  the 
law  contemplated  that  paupers  should  be  cared  for 
in  that  institution,  except  in  such  cases  as  by  reason 
of  sickness  the  dependent  could  not  be  removed,  or 
in  case  the  pauper  did  not  have  a  legal  settlement  in 
the  county  or  needed  only  temporary  relief.  The 
trustees  of  the  township  where  the  pauper  fell  into 
poverty,  or  the  county  commissioners,  were  to  issue 
an  order  to  the  directors  of  the  poorhouse  to  admit 
him.  This  order  was  accompanied  by  a  statement 
of  facts  signed  by  the  trustees  or  the  county  com- 
missioners setting  forth  the  person's  name,  age, 
birthplace,  length  of  residence,  previous  habits  and 
present  condition,  the  date  or  dates  at  which  he  had 
been  warned  to  depart  (if  not  a  native  of  the  county 
or  township),  and  if  such  warning  had  been  neglect- 
ed, the  cause  of  the  neglect.  If,  after  examining 
this  statement  the  directors  found  the  person  was 
entitled  to  relief  under  the  law  of  settlement,  they, 


170      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

or  a  member  of  their  body,  issued  an  order  to  the 
superintendent  of  the  poorhouse  to  admit  him.229 

In  the  laws  of  1851  and  of  1860,  the  process  was 
less  complex.  Here,  however,  it  was  prescribed  that 
the  pauper  must  make  application  to  the  township 
trustees  before  relief  could  be  given  by  them.  The 
order  of  admission  could  be  issued  to  the  steward  of 
the  poorhouse  by  the  township  trustees,  by  a  director 
of  the  poorhouse,  or  by  the  county  judge,  or  later  by 
the  county  supervisors.  This  action  of  the  trustees, 
nevertheless,  was  subject  to  review  by  the  directors 
of  the  poorhouse.230 

In  the  Code  of  1873  and  the  Code  of  1897  no  direc- 
tors were  provided  for ;  and  so  admission  was  upon 
the  written  order  of  a  township  trustee  or  a  member 
of  the  board  of  county  supervisors.231  Inasmuch, 
however,  as  the  actions  of  the  trustees  were  subject 
to  review  by  the  supervisors,  the  matter  theoretical- 
ly was  ultimately  in  the  hands  of  the  latter  officials, 
although  in  practice  the  double  control  actually 
existed. 

DISCHARGE   FROM   THE  POOEHOUSE 

There  has  been  provision  in  every  Iowa  poor  law 
for  the  discharge  of  inmates  of  the  poorhouse  who 
were  able  to  support  themselves.  The  Territorial 
statute  of  1842  provided  that  when  any  person  had 
been  received  into  the  poorhouse  as  a  pauper  on  ac- 
count of  infirmity  or  disease  and  had  become  so  far 
restored  to  health  as  to  be  able  to  support  himself, 


THE  POORHOUSE  IN  IOWA  171 

the  directors  might  order  the  superintendent  of  the 
poorhouse  to  discharge  him.232 

In  each  of  the  later  statutes  the  provision  was 
more  general  and  included  all  inmates,  whether  ad- 
mitted on  account  of  sickness  or  not.  In  the  codes 
of  1851, 1860,  and  1873,  the  ordering  of  the  discharge 
was  made  optional ;  while  in  the  Code  of  1897  it  was 
made  obligatory  upon  the  board  having  the  matter 
in  charge.233 

In  none  of  the  Iowa  poor  laws  has  there  been  any 
provision  to  prevent  an  inmate  from  discharging 
himself.  There  were  no  precedents  for  such  a  meas- 
ure in  the  laws  of  the  States  and  Territories  from 
which  the  poor  laws  of  early  Iowa  were  borrowed, 
and  the  laws  were  made  by  persons  who  had  had  no 
training  in  scientific  methods  of  handling  poor  relief. 
The  age  of  the  expert  in  legislation  relative  to  the 
care  of  the  poor  had  not  yet  arrived.  Therefore, 
only  legal  precedents,  gathered  from  a  field  limited 
by  a  rather  narrow  horizon,  dominated  the  making 
of  the  laws.  The  result  was  that  such  an  idea  as 
preventing  a  person  from  leaving  the  poorhouse 
seems  never  to  have  occurred  to  either  the  code-mak- 
ers or  the  legislators.  Hence,  the  Iowa  law  to-day 
on  the  discharge  of  paupers  from  a  poorhouse  is  the 
same  as  that  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  in  England. 
As  a  consequence,  the  poorhouse  can  become  the 
winter  harbor  of  the  vagrant  from  which  he  may 
discharge  himself  at  will  when  the  gentler  breezes 
of  spring  begin  to  blow.  Either  he  should  not  be  al- 


172      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

lowed  to  enter,  or  else  his  discharge  should  be  con- 
trolled by  the  body  which  admitted  him. 

CHILDEEN  IN  THE  POOEHOUSE 

When  Iowa  became  a  State  the  only  mention  of 
children  in  the  poorhouses  to  be  found  in  the  laws 
was  in  connection  with  their  being  bound  out.  The 
directors  of  the  poorhouse  were  authorized  to  bind 
out  to  apprenticeship  pauper  children  in  the  institu- 
tion —  the  boys  until  the  age  of  twenty-one  and  the 
girls  until  eighteen  years  of  age,  unless  such  girls 
should  marry  before  that  age  —  on  the  terms  and 
conditions  laid  down  in  the  act  governing  apprentices 
and  servants.23* 

Under  the  provisions  of  the  Code  of  1851  and  the 
Revision  of  1860  the  directors  might  bind  out  such 
pauper  children  in  the  poorhouse  as  were  likely  to 
remain  a  permanent  charge  on  the  public.  A  pro- 
vision was  added  which  gave  them  the  authority  to 
bind  children  out  also  for  shorter  periods  than  until 
the  ages  mentioned  above.235  In  the  Code  of  1873 
the  age  to  which  they  could  bind  out  the  children  was 
lowered  to  eighteen  for  boys  and  sixteen  for  girls, 
unless  the  latter  were  married  before  that  age.236 

On  recommendation  of  the  code  commission  of 
1896,  this  section  was  transferred  from  the  poor  law 
to  the  chapter  on  master  and  apprentice  in  the  Code 
of  1897.  In  that  chapter  the  limit  of  the  age  to  which 
either  boys  or  girls  could  be  bound  out  was  reduced 
to  eighteen,  but  the  apprenticeship  for  both  sexes  23T 
ended  at  marriage. 


THE  POORHOUSE  IN  IOWA  173 

In  this  Code,  however,  a  new  section,  based  upon 
an  act  of  the  Seventeenth  General  Assembly  in  1878, 
was  inserted,  which  provided  that  poor  children  when 
cared  for  in  the  poorhouse,  should  attend  the  school 
of  the  district  in  which  the  poorhouse  was  located. 
The  pro  rata  expense  of  educating  these  children 
was  to  be  paid  by  the  county  to  the  school  district 
and  charged  up  to  the  poorhouse  expense  account.238 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  law  still  permits  the 
sending  of  children  to  the  poorhouse,  it  is  true  that 
a  consciousness  of  the  wickedness  of  such  a  practice 
has  been  growing  among  the  people  of  Iowa,  at  least 
since  the  Civil  War.  In  1866  a  home  for  the  orphans 
of  soldiers  was  provided  for  by  the  legislature.239 
Just  as  sympathy  for  the  soldier  led  to  the  creation 
of  the  Soldiers'  Home  and  gave  Iowa  the  provision 
of  its  poor  laws  forbidding  the  sending  of  a  soldier 
or  his  family  to  the  poorhouse,  so  it  also  resulted  in 
giving  the  State  the  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home  and  in 
arousing  agitation  for  the  care  of  other  orphans  in 
special  homes  instead  of  in  the  poorhouses. 

In  1874  petitions  were  presented  in  both  houses  of 
the  legislature,  praying  that  the  Soldiers'  Orphans' 
Homes  should  be  opened  to  other  children  as  well  as 
to  orphans  of  soldiers.240  So  insistent  was  the  de- 
mand that  in  1876  provision  was  made  for  the  recep- 
tion of  other  destitute  children  into  the  Home  at 
Davenport.241  This  provision,  however,  did  not  work 
out  as  its  promoters  had  hoped.  This  was  due  to 
the  fact  that  the  county  from  which  the  child  came 
was  required  to  bear  the  expense  of  his  support  at 


174      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

the  Home.  The  county  supervisors  found  it  cheaper 
to  keep  pauper  children  in  the  county  poorhouse. 

Governor  Sherman  in  his  second  biennial  message 
on  January  14,  1886,  urged  that  a  law  be  passed 
prohibiting  the  sending  of  children  to  a  poorhouse. 
It  remained  merely  a  suggestion,  since  it  was  cheaper 
for  the  county  to  keep  its  pauper  children  in  the 
poorhouse.  While  the  law  still  permits  them  to  be 
kept  in  that  institution,  the  agitation  against  the 
practice  has  had  the  result  of  inspiring  other  agen- 
cies to  undertake  their  care.  This  was  but  one  part 
of  a  movement  which  has  as  a  matter  of  fact  taken 
most  of  the  children  out  of  the  county  poorhouses.242 

Another  movement  which  had  the  same  result  was 
the  organization  of  children's  homes  and  home-find- 
ing societies,  which  have  had  a  great  growth  since 
the  Civil  War  and  are  now  under  State  regulation.243 
As  a  rule  only  those  who  are  children  of  a  parent  in 
the  poorhouse  are  now  retained  in  that  institution 
—  and  these  are  usually  very  young.  The  law  should, 
however,  forbid  children  over  a  certain  age  (say  two 
years)  to  be  kept  in  a  county  or  city  poorhouse.  In 
this  instance  the  law  has  not  only  failed  to  lead  the 
social  conscience,  but  it  has  not  even  followed  it,  ex- 
cept by  providing  for  the  care  of  children  elsewhere. 

THE  POORHOUSE  AS  THE  ONLY  METHOD  OF  BELIEF 

The  law  in  force  in  Iowa  at  the  time  of  admission 
into  the  Union  provided  for  relief  either  in  the  poor- 
house or  in  the  homes  of  the  needy.  Inasmuch  as  it 
was  easier  to  provide  for  the  needy  by  outdoor  relief 


THE  POORHOUSE  IN  IOWA  175 

than  to  build  poorhouses  in  a  new  and  sparsely  set- 
tled country,  the  law  providing  for  care  in  those  in- 
stitutions was  based  upon  the  contingency  that  the 
board  of  county  commissioners,  to  quote  the  words 
of  the  statute,  thought  it '  *  proper  and  advantageous 
to  build  a  poor-house".  The  poorhouse  was  not 
looked  upon  as  the  place  in  which  all  relief  should  be 
given.  As  a  matter  of  fact  in  the  early  days  it  played 
a  very  small  part  in  poor  relief. 

In  the  Code  of  1851  and  the  Revision  of  1860, 
while  provisions  were  made  for  the  care  of  the  poor 
in  their  homes,  the  law  provided  that ' '  relief  is  to  be 
furnished  in  the  poorhouse  only,  when  the  person  is 
able  to  be  taken  there,  unless  the  judge  order  other- 
wise. ' ' 244  Without  doubt  the  intention  of  the  makers 
of  the  Code  of  1851  was  to  concentrate  poor  relief  as 
much  as  possible  in  the  poorhouse,  thus  furnishing 
an  interesting  parallel  to  a  similar  attempt  in  early 
Ohio  legislation.245 

The  regard  for  the  welfare  of  the  soldier  and  his 
family  during  and  after  the  Civil  War  played  havoc 
with  this  economical  but  brutal  theory.  In  1868  the 
Twelfth  General  Assembly  had  provided  that  no 
widows  or  families  of  Iowa  soldiers  should  be  sent 
to  the  county  poorhouse  when  they  could  be,  and 
preferred  to  be,  relieved  in  their  homes  to  the  extent 
of  two  dollars  a  week.  In  the  Code  of  1873  this  ex- 
ception was  extended  to  any  other  poor  persons  in 
families  —  a  provision  which  was  again  broadened  in 
1878  to  include  all  Union  soldiers  and  their  widows 
and  families.  Finally,  in  the  Code  of  1897  this  priv- 


ilege  was  extended  to  members  of  the  army  and  navy, 
and  to  their  widows  and  families.  The  relief  of  other 
persons  outside  the  poorhouse  was  made  discretion- 
ary with  the  county  supervisors.246 

In  short,  in  the  early  history  of  poor  relief  in  Iowa, 
as  represented  by  the  Territorial  law  of  1842  the 
minimum  emphasis  was  upon  relief  in  the  poorhouse, 
but  after  poorhouses  increased  in  number  there  was 
a  tendency  to  concentrate  relief  in  those  institutions. 
The  Civil  War  checked  this  tendency  for  certain 
classes,  and  the  reaction  found  its  expression  in  the 
Code  of  1873.  With  the  founding  of  institutions 
providing  for  the  care  of  needy  soldiers  and  their 
families,  and  with  the  tendency  to  place  poor  relief 
in  the  hands  of  the  county  supervisors,  sentiment 
swung  back  toward  the  former  policy. 


When  one  studies  the  legislation  dealing  with  poor 
relief  one  is  impressed  with  the  fact  that  in  the  ab- 
sence of  high  motives  growing  out  of  careful  sci- 
entific study  of  poverty  and  its  treatment,  economic 
considerations  have  largely  determined  the  treat- 
ment prescribed :  the  desire  to  save  the  taxpayer  im- 
mediate outlay,  not  the  determination  to  so  deal  with 
the  question  as  ultimately  to  lower  the  rate  of  taxa- 
tion for  poor  relief  by  prevention  and  rehabilitation, 
has  too  often  governed  the  law-makers.  A  study  of 
the  administration  of  these  laws  would  doubtless 
show  this  fact  even  more  clearly,  since  the  laws  have 
always  made  abundant  provision  for  the  care  of  the 


THE  POORHOUSE  IN  IOWA  177 

poor.  One  feels,  however,  that  the  authorities  who 
have  been  closest  to  the  practical  administration  of 
the  laws  and  were  chiefly  responsible  for  the  taxa- 
tion necessary  to  carry  out  any  plans,  have  not 
always  had  the  necessary  social  vision  to  conceive 
or  carry  out  a  constructive  social  policy  with  re- 
spect to  the  poorhouse.  So  far  as  giving  the  su- 
pervisors power  to  do  things  goes  the  laws  have 
been  adequate.  What  the  legislation  has  lacked  is 
mandatory  constructive  features.  These,  however, 
have  been  impossible  with  our  political  ideal  of  local 
autonomy  in  the  management  of  the  county  institu- 
tions, an  ideal  which  has  had  to  yield  to  State  con- 
trol and  direction  in  those  Commonwealths,  like  In- 
diana, which  are  handling  the  poverty  problem  hope- 
fully. 

In  the  Territorial  law  of  1842  the  county  commis- 
sioners were  empowered  to  levy  and  collect  a  poor 
tax  of  not  more  than  one  mill  on  the  dollar  on  the 
valuation  of  all  property  taxable  for  county  and  Ter- 
ritorial purposes,  in  case  the  regular  revenue  of  the 
county  was  insufficient  for  the  support  of  the  poor.247 
This  provision  was  repeated  in  the  codes  of  1851, 
1860,  and  1873,  except  that  in  the  first  the  court 
levied  the  tax  and  in  the  last  two  the  board  of  super- 
visors performed  this  duty.  The  expenses  were  to 
be  paid  out  of  the  county  treasury  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  other  county  disbursements.248  The  Code  of 
1897  omitted  the  statement  of  previous  codes  as  to 
the  manner  in  which  the  expenses  of  maintaining  the 


178      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

poorhonse  should  be  paid,  although  it  retained  the 
millage  tax  provision.249 

CENTRALIZED  CONTROL  OF  THE  POORHOUSES 

This  short-visioned  economy  in  the  management 
of  the  poorhouses  inevitably  gave  rise  to  evil  condi- 
tions. Except  in  a  few  places  the  bad  results  of 
county  supervision  of  the  poorhouse  first  became  ap- 
parent in  connection  with  the  treatment  of  the  in- 
sane in  the  poorhouses.  Attention  was  called  to  the 
situation  in  these  institutions  by  a  ''visiting  com- 
mittee ' '  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly  to  look 
into  conditions  in  the  hospitals  for  the  insane  and 
embody  the  results  in  their  report  in  1875.  This 
committee  made  an  investigation  of  the  care  of  the 
insane  and  other  mental  defectives  throughout  the 
State,  and  reported  that  fifty-three  counties  in  the 
State  had  poorhouses  at  that  time,  while  forty-six 
counties  lacked  such  an  institution.  In  these  poor- 
houses they  found  confined  three  hundred  and  thirty- 
two  men  paupers  and  two  hundred  and  eighty-five 
women,  a  total  of  six  hundred  and  seventeen.  In  ad- 
dition, the  poorhouses  contained  forty  men  and 
forty-nine  women  who  were  idiots,  and  forty-six  men 
and  forty-three  women  who  were  insane.  The  coun- 
ties which  had  no  poorhouses  maintained  two  hun- 
dred and  sixty-six  permanent  paupers,  three  idiots, 
and  twenty  insane  persons.  At  that  date  Jackson 
County  was  the  only  county  which  had  a  separate 
building  for  the  care  of  the  insane,  although  Scott 
County  had  an  arrangement  by  which  the  twenty- 


THE  POORHOUSE  IN  IOWA  179 

three  insane  persons  in  the  county  were  cared  for  in 
Mercy  Hospital  near  Davenport. 

In  its  report  the  committee  protested  vigorously 
against  the  conditions  existing  in  the  poorhouses, 
saying : 

The  experiences  of  all  communities,  and  the  results  of  the 
especial  inspections  of  the  poor-houses  in  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania,  demonstrate  that  the  retention  in  such  places, 
of  cases  of  insanity  and  idocy,  is  not  only  a  gross  violation 
of  the  commonest  sentiments  of  humanity,  but  that  such 
disposition,  especially  as  to  females,  inevitably  and  invar- 
iably leads  to  results  alike  opposed  to  public  morality  and 
public  safety.  In  one  of  our  own  counties,  (Scott,)  a  few 
years  ago,  an  investigation  into  the  conditions  and  disci- 
pline of  the  poor-house,  and  particularly  as  to  the  relations 
between  the  ordinary  male  paupers  and  the  insane  females, 
exhibited  such  shocking  disclosures  that  the  county  au- 
thorities immediately  established  the  rule  that  no  cases  of 
insanity  should  thenceforth  be  placed  in  their  poor-house. 

It  is  respectfully  submitted  that  a  similar  ' '  rule ' '  should, 
by  legislative  enactment,  be  established  throughout  the 
State. 

Pending  the  completion  of  state  accommodations  for  all 
the  insane  of  Iowa,  there  should  at  least,  be  provision,  by  a 
statute  enactment,  for  constant  general  supervision  by  of- 
ficials appointed  by  the  state,  of  all  the  county  institutions 
of  detention,  particularly  including  jails,  poor-houses  and 
public  and  private  hospitals,  in  which  the  counties  may 
have  provided  for  such  claimants  on  their  care.250 

In  these  words  are  to  be  found  the  first  public  no- 
tice by  State  officials  of  conditions  in  the  poorhouses 


180      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

of  Iowa  and  the  first  official  suggestion  of  State  con- 
trol. 

Following  immediately  upon  this  report,  Governor 
Carpenter  in  his  second  biennial  message  (January 
12,  1876),  and  upon  the  suggestion  of  the  committee 
itself,  urged  that  this  Visiting  Committee  should 
have  its  powers  enlarged  so  as  to  include  within  its 
scope  the  duties  of  examining  county  jails  and  poor- 
houses  and  of  suggesting  improvements  in  the  con- 
duct of  these  institutions.251 

Governor  Gear  in  his  second  biennial  message 
(January  10,  1882)  cited  the  report  made  to  him  by 
Dr.  Margaret  A.  Cleaves,  of  Davenport,  whom  he 
had  appointed  as  a  delegate  to  the  National  Con- 
ference of  Charities  and  Correction.  Fresh  from 
this  meeting,  where  State  boards  of  charities  had 
been  discussed,  in  her  report  she  urged  the  necessity 
of  such  an  organization  in  Iowa.  The  Governor  rec- 
ommended that  such  a  board  be  appointed,  because 
the  disclosures  of  conditions  in  many  States  con- 
cerning the  management  of  poorhouses  demonstra- 
ted the  fact  that  some  supervision  other  than  that 
afforded  by  the  existing  system  of  government  for 
these  institutions  was  necessary.252 

Not  until  twelve  years  later  did  another  Governor 
mention  the  subject.  At  that  time  (1894)  Governor 
Boies  argued  for  a  board  of  control  which  should 
occasionally  visit  county  institutions.253  His  suc- 
cessor, Governor  Jackson,  in  his  biennial  message  of 
January  14,  1896,  while  opposing  the  creation  of  a 
board  of  control,  urged  that  the  powers  of  the  Visit- 


THE  POORHOUSE  IN  IOWA  181 

ing  Committee  to  the  Insane  Hospitals  be  enlarged 
so  that  they  should  be  required  to  visit  all  poor- 
houses  where  insane  patients  were  kept 25*  —  a  sug- 
gestion which  was  reiterated  by  Governor  Drake  two 
years  later.255 

In  spite  of  the  opposition  of  Governors  Jackson 
and  Drake  to  that  particular  form  of  a  controlling 
body,  the  Twenty-seventh  General  Assembly  in  1898 
passed  an  act  creating  the  Board  of  Control  for  all 
State  charitable  and  correctional  institutions.256  By 
the  terms  of  an  act  of  April  7,  1900,  there  was  com- 
mitted to  this  Board  of  Control  supervision  of  all 
county  poorhouses  in  which  insane  were  kept.257 

Thus  a  small  measure  of  State  supervision  has 
finally  come  to  the  management  of  the  poorhouses  of 
Iowa.  It  must  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  only 
those  poorhouses  in  which  there  are  kept  insane 
people  are  inspected  by  the  Board  of  Control.  The 
poorhouses  of  those  counties  in  which  the  insane  are 
kept  in  another  building,  even  though  it  be  in  the 
same  yard  with  the  poorhouse,  have  no  State  super- 
vision to  this  day. 

It  is  well  known  that  this  supervision  has  had  good 
results.  Ever  hanging  over  the  heads  of  local  au- 
thorities, solicitous  now  as  always  to  keep  down  the 
taxes  of  their  constituents,  is  the  power  of  the  State 
Board  of  Control  —  a  body  which  is  not  so  near  to 
the  voters  as  are  local  officials,  and  is  therefore 
less  subject  to  the  influences  which  are  largely 
responsible  for  the  inefficiency  to  be  seen  in  the 
administration  of  county  poorhouses.  This  con- 


182      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

trol  should  be  further  extended  so  as  to  include  every 
poorhouse.  With  a  board  of  social  vision  and  enough 
intelligent  inspectors  there  would  be  hope  that  that 
travesty  upon  the  name  in  most  of  the  counties  of 
Iowa  —  the  ' l  county  home ' '  —  would  indeed  become 
a  home  for  the  infirm  and  aged  poor  who  have  no 
friends  but  the  county.  Then  perhaps  that  soulless, 
conscienceless  thing,  the  county,  might  become  what 
it  should  be  —  a  humane  friend  of  the  helpless  poor. 


OUTDOOR  RELIEF  OF  THE  POOR  IN  IOWA 

Relief  of  the  poor  in  their  homes  has  ever  been  the 
method  employed  in  a  newly  settled  country.  It  re- 
quires no  preliminary  preparation ;  in  the  beginning 
it  is  only  one  step  removed  from  mere  neighborly 
assistance ;  and  it  is  the  most  economical  method. 

While  the  earliest  law  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa 
provided  for  poorhouses,  the  probabilities  are  that 
such  institutions  were  never  built  during  the  time 
such  legislation  was  in  force.  The  law  in  operation 
on  this  subject  at  the  time  Iowa  became  a  State  was 
that  approved  on  February  16,  1842  —  a  statute 
adopted  from  the  Ohio  law  of  1831,  and  devoted  en- 
tirely to  the  subject  of  the  relief  of  the  poor  in  their 
homes.  It  concerned  itself  with  questions  of  sup- 
port by  relatives,  settlement,  and  the  administration 
of  out-relief.  Every  other  statute  on  the  subject  of 
poor  relief  in  Iowa  has  included  provisions  for  relief 
in  poorhouses  and  in  the  homes  of  the  poor,  or  by 
contract. 

From  first  to  last  some  features  have  remained 
common  to  all  the  various  acts  passed  in  Iowa.  Two 
methods  of  out-relief  have  been  common  to  all  of  the 
laws  of  the  State  for  the  relief  of  the  poor,  namely, 
relief  could  either  be  furnished  to  poor  persons  in 

183 


184      POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

their  homes  or  be  let  out  on  contract.  In  all  of  these 
acts  relatives  were  held  liable  for  the  support  of 
paupers ;  while  relief  was  contingent  upon  settlement 
for  a  certain  length  of  time  in  the  township  or 
county,  and  there  were  provisions  for  the  return  of 
paupers  who  had  no  settlement  in  the  place  in  which 
they  fell  into  want  to  the  place  of  their  legal  settle- 
ment. 

Moreover,  certain  officials  persist  throughout  the 
history  of  poor  relief  legislation  in  Iowa,  although 
their  names  were  altered  in  some  cases,  as  for  ex- 
ample, those  having  direct  charge  of  relief  in  town- 
ships. And  although  some  officers  were  eliminated 
in  the  course  of  development  and  their  functions 
were  given  to  other  county  or  township  officials, 
nevertheless,  the  chief  functions  remained  the  same 
throughout.  In  other  words,  the  main  features  of 
the  process  by  which  out-relief  was  administered 
were  never  changed.  Except  during  the  first  four 
years,  when  the  Territorial  law  remained  in  force, 
these  features  were  application  by  the  pauper,  fol- 
lowed by  an  investigation  by  certain  township  offi- 
cials, either  the  overseers  of  the  poor  or  the  town- 
ship trustees;  then  either  direct  relief  by  these  of- 
ficials and  a  report  of  their  action  to  the  county 
officials,  or  else  a  report  of  the  need  to  the  county 
officials  first  and  direct  relief  with  their  approba- 
tion afterwards;  or  sometimes  direct  relief  by  the 
township  officials  without  review  by  the  county  au- 
thorities. Inasmuch  as  the  details  of  relief,  both  in 
the  poorhouse  and  out,  have  been  discussed  in  pre- 


OUTDOOR  RELIEF  OF  THE  POOR  185 

vious  chapters  it  will  be  necessary  here  only  to  sum 
up  on  broad  lines  the  development  of  out-relief  in 
Iowa. 

BELIEF  BY  CONTRACT 

The  form  of  poor  relief  first  established  in  Iowa 
was  relief  under  a  contract.  Strictly  speaking  this 
was  not  out-relief  in  the  sense  in  which  that  word  is 
used  in  later  days.  Since,  however,  it  was  an  alter- 
native form  to  relief  in  the  poorhouse,  it  has  been 
treated  as  such.  This  system  was  applied  to  chil- 
dren whose  parents  were  unable  to  support  them, 
and  included  those  who  were  in  poorhouses  as  well 
as  those  who  had  not  yet  been  sent  thither.  More- 
over, this  form  of  out-relief  has  been  incorporated 
in  every  law  enacted  in  the  State  of  Iowa  for  the  re- 
lief of  the  poor.258  But  even  more  universal  have 
been  the  statutory  provisions  relating  to  the  care  of 
adult  paupers  by  contract ;  for  such  provisions  are  to 
be  found  in  both  of  the  laws  on  this  subject  which 
were  in  force  in  Iowa  during  the  Territorial  pe- 
riod.259 

The  contractor  has  been  dealt  with  in  the  chapter 
on  County  Relief  Officials.2™  In  this  connection, 
therefore,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  do  more  than 
trace  very  briefly  the  changes  which  occurred  in 
the  position  of  that  individual  during  the  course 
of  the  development.  In  all  essentials  the  law  re- 
lating to  the  contractor  was  not  changed,  except 
that  provision  was  made  for  a  more  careful  su- 
pervision of  his  care  of  the  poor.  In  the  Terri- 
torial law  of  1840  no  supervision  of  the  contractor 


186      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

was  provided  for.261  In  the  statute  of  1842  a  limit 
was  imposed  in  that  the  overseers  could  not  contract 
with  any  one  for  the  care  of  the  poor  for  a  longer 
period  than  one  year.262 

In  the  legislation  of  1851  and  1860,  probably  owing 
to  the  abuses  which  had  arisen  in  connection  with 
this  method  of  caring  for  the  poor  in  the  early  his- 
tory of  the  State  and  also  to  the  fact  that  these  codes 
allowed  the  contractor  to  employ  the  poor,  an  addi- 
tional provision  was  inserted.  It  was  in  the  Code  of 
1851  that  there  is  first  to  be  found  that  interesting 
official,  "the  spy",  whose  business  it  was  "to  exam- 
ine and  report  upon  the  manner  the  poor  are  kept 
and  treated."  This  examination  was  to  be  made 
without  notice  to  the  contractor.  While  this  pro- 
vision remained  in  each  of  the  succeeding  codes,  its 
importance  has  constantly  decreased  by  reason  of  the 
passing  of  this  method  of  caring  for  the  poor.263 

The  contract  system  did  not  answer  to  the  increas- 
ingly complex  conditions  of  society  in  Iowa,  More- 
over, two  other  methods  were  coming  into  favor  and 
tended  to  supplant  the  contract  plan.  The  poor- 
house  was  bound  to  increase  in  popular  favor  at  a 
time  when  men  measured  the  development  of  the 
State  largely  in  terms  of  masses  of  people  and  in 
buildings.  Where,  however,  an  institution  seemed 
too  expensive  for  a  county  and  therefore  impossible 
of  realization,  relief  in  the  homes  of  the  poor  was 
much  cheaper,  more  humane,  and  not  subject  to  the 
abuses  which  had  grown  up  in  connection  with  relief 
by  contractors.  Thus,  relief  in  the  homes  of  the 


OUTDOOR  RELIEF  OF  THE  POOR  187 

poor  became  the  dominant  mode  where  there  was  no 
poorhouse,  except  in  the  case  of  the  infirm  or  the 
solitary  pauper. 

BELIEF  IN  THE  HOMES  OF  THE  POOR 

Temporary  relief  of  the  poor  who  had  no  settle- 
ment where  they  fell  into  want  has  been  the  policy 
in  Iowa  from  the  beginning.  At  first  the  expense 
was  borne  by  the  county  or  township  where  such 
person  received  aid ;  later  by  the  county  where  such 
person  had  a  legal  settlement.264 

The  Code  of  1851  introduced  out-relief  in  the 
homes  of  the  people.  Up  to  that  time  the  supposi- 
tion was  that  relief  must  be  given  either  in  the  poor- 
house  or  by  the  contractor.  In  the  codes  of  1851  and 
1860  the  county  court  and  the  county  supervisors,  re- 
spectively, were  given  discretion  either  to  pay  to  the 
poor  a  small  sum  from  time  to  time  or  an  annual  al- 
lowance, not  to  exceed  the  amount  that  might  be 
necessary  to  care  for  them  by  the  other  methods  in 
vogue.265  Practically  these  same  provisions  were 
continued  in  all  later  legislation.  In  the  Code  of 
1873  the  supervisors  were  authorized  to  grant  this 
relief;  while  in  the  Code  of  1897  the  matter  was 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  supervisors  directly  or  of 
the  township  trustees  or  the  overseer  of  the  poor  in 
the  cities,  under  the  supervision  of  the  county  super- 
visors.266 

This  method  of  relieving  the  poor  leaped  into  in- 
creased prominence  during  and  immediately  follow- 
ing the  Civil  War.  Concern  for  the  soldier  and  his 


188      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

family,  and  reaction  against  the  stigma  of  the  poor- 
house  for  this  class  of  dependents  soon  left  their  im- 
press upon  the  poor  relief  legislation  of  the  State. 
The  details  of  that  development  have  been  set  forth 
in  other  chapters.287  Here  it  will  be  sufficient  to  no- 
tice that  the  movement  to  relieve  the  families  of  Iowa 
soldiers  naturally  gave  rise  to  a  growing  concern  for 
other  families  needing  relief.  An  act  approved  on 
April  6, 1868,  gave  dependents  who  had  family  rela- 
tionships, aside  from  the  families  of  Iowa  soldiers, 
the  right  to  be  relieved  in  their  homes  to  the  extent 
of  two  dollars  per  week  for  each  person,  rather  than 
go  to  the  poorhouse.268  With  the  passage  of  time 
and  the  growing  realization  of  the  possibility  of 
abuse  in  outdoor  relief,  the  law-making  body  of  the 
State  receded  from  that  position.  In  the  Code  of 
1897  the  question  of  providing  relief  for  other  per- 
sons than  the  families  of  soldiers  in  this  manner  was 
put  within  the  discretion  of  the  board  of  super- 
visors.269 There  the  matter  remains,  except  with  re- 
spect to  those  to  whom  the  recently  enacted  widow's 
pension  law  applies. 

THE  SOLDIEES'  BELIEF  FUND 

The  Civil  War  caused  the  establishment  of  the 
Soldiers'  Home  and  the  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home. 
Before  either  of  these  institutions  had  been  provided 
for  by  the  State,  the  legislature,  by  an  act  approved 
on  March  28,  1864,  had  authorized  each  county  to 
levy  a  tax  of  not  less  than  two  mills  on  all  taxable 
property  for  the  creation  of  "The  Belief  Fund"  for 


OUTDOOR  RELIEF  OF  THE  POOR  189 

soldiers  and  their  families.270  This  fund  was  used  to 
relieve  the  families  of  soldiers  and  later  came  to  be 
employed  also  for  supplying  the  needs  of  old  sol- 
diers themselves  who  became  dependent. 

This  law  is  of  interest  in  this  connection  because 
of  the  fact  that  it  helped  to  establish  the  principle  of 
outdoor  relief  of  the  poor.  Once  established  in  the 
customs  of  the  people,  this  principle  held  its  own, 
until  to-day  it  costs  the  State  more  to  care  for  the 
paupers  outside  of  the  poorhouses  than  is  expended 
for  the  maintenance  of  those  institutions.271 

As  administered  in  Iowa  there  is  no  supervision  of 
out-relief  aside  from  what  meagre  and  inefficient 
oversight  is  given  by  the  county  authorities,  whose 
chief  concern  seems  to  be  to  keep  down  the  taxes. 
The  State  has  absolutely  no  control  over  the  matter. 
Nor  is  there  inspection  by  State  agents  —  one  re- 
spect in  which  the  situation  is  much  worse  than  in 
the  case  of  the  poorhouses.  Even  the  widow's  pen- 
sion law  is  administered  by  the  courts.  In  most  cases 
the  judges  are  perhaps  somewhat  better  fitted  than 
the  supervisors  to  bring  to  the  oversight  of  this 
form  of  out-relief  in  the  interest  of  dependent  chil- 
dren a  wide  experience  and  a  more  expert  knowledge 
of  how  such  a  fund  should  be  administered.  Yet  it 
can  hardly  be  said  that  such  oversight  as  they,  with 
all  their  other  work  and  interests  and  with  their 
specialized  training  for  the  law,  can  give  is  the  best 
possible  kind  of  supervision.  At  best  they  have  no 
experience  outside  of  the  one  or  few  counties  within 
which  they  hold  court.  They  can  not  give  themselves 


190      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

to  a  special  study  of  the  problems  of  poor  relief. 
With  certain  exceptions  they  are  not  men  who 
have  a  large  and  generous  social  interest.  Men  of 
attainments  in  the  law,  experts  in  the  interpretation 
of  laws,  and  men  of  fine  character  they  usually  are, 
but  they  are  not  often  men  especially  trained  in  the 
methods  of  poor  relief. 

These  qualities  are  not  to  be  despised  in  a  judge : 
doubtless  they  count  for  much  in  the  administration 
of  justice  in  a  district.  Are  these  characteristics, 
however,  those  which  make  the  judge  expert  in 
knowing  just  how  far  to  go  in  granting  pensions  to  a 
woman  with  a  dependent  child,  or  which  serve  to 
make  him  the  best  possible  person  to  give  the  final 
word  in  the  administration  of  a  law  dealing  with  the 
delicate  problem  of  the  relief  of  mothers  and  chil- 
dren —  a  word  that  may  mean  either  pauperization 
or  rehabilitation,  according  to  the  judge's  wisdom! 
That  this  is  the  best  method  of  supervising  out- 
relief,  even  of  the  special  sort  represented  by  the 
mothers'  pension,  is  open  to  serious  doubt. 

It  would  be  very  much  better  if  some  State  super- 
vising agency  could  be  employed  for  this  work.  In- 
diana has  found  that  supervision  by  the  Board  of 
State  Charities  is  a  very  efficient  method  of  decreas- 
ing poverty  through  outdoor  relief.  Under  such  su- 
pervision in  that  State  from  1898  to  1909,  the  number 
of  townships  which  made  no  levy  for  outdoor  relief 
increased  from  64  to  276.  The  number  which  made 
a  levy  of  less  than  one-half  mill  increased  from  515 
to  634,  while  the  number  levying  more  than  one-half 


OUTDOOR  RELIEF  OF  THE  POOR  191 

mill  decreased  from  435  to  107.  Under  this  system 
in  Indiana  the  cost  of  outdoor  relief  for  that  State 
decreased  from  $355,255.29  in  1895  and  1896  to  $279,- 
967.31  in  1909,  while  the  average  amount  given  to 
each  person  aided  increased  from  $4.97  to  $5.13.  In 
short,  the  number  of  persons  aided  was  very  materi- 
ally decreased,  while  the  relief  was  made  more  ade- 
quate for  those  to  whom  relief  was  given.272 

This  matter  could  be  very  efficiently  handled  by  a 
statutory  provision  which  would  give  to  the  Board 
of  Control  authority  to  appoint  one  or  more  efficient 
inspectors  to  supervise  outdoor  relief.  As  in  In- 
diana, county  boards  of  charities  composed  of  un- 
salaried  appointees  with  the  duty  of  overseeing  poor 
relief,  reporting  to  the  Board  of  Control,  and  pub- 
lishing their  reports  in  the  newspapers,  would  enlist 
the  interest  of  people  with  non-political  aspirations 
and  secure  efficient  administration.  The  statute 
should  give  the  Board  authority  to  prescribe  meth- 
ods and  regulations  under  which  out-relief  would 
be  given.  With  the  waste  which  is  almost  every- 
where characteristic  of  outdoor  relief  in  Iowa,  es- 
pecially in  the  larger  communities,  this  would  put 
an  effective  check  upon  indiscriminate  giving,  would 
establish  in  our  public  out-relief  system  the  prin- 
ciples of  scientific  charity,  and  without  a  doubt  in  the 
next  five  years  would  materially  lessen  the  amount 
spent  in  this  way,  as  well  as  secure  more  adequate 
relief  in  the  cases  of  those  actually  in  need.  It  might 
be  well,  also,  for  such  a  statute  to  provide,  as  in  In- 
diana, that  the  amount  spent  by  the  overseers  of  the 


192      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

poor  in  each  community  should  be  paid,  not  out  of 
county  funds,  but  should  be  taxed  back  to  each  town- 
ship or  city.  This  would  have  the  effect  of  making 
the  overseer  of  the  poor  and  the  township  trustees 
careful  in  the  administration  of  relief,  while  the 
State  supervision  would  secure  efficiency. 


PAET  III 

SPECIAL  CLASSES  OF  DEPENDENTS 
AND  STATE  CONTROL 


XI 

SPECIAL  CLASSES  OF  DEPENDENTS: 
NORMAL  CHILDREN 

The  plan  of  treating  all  classes  of  dependents  in 
the  same  manner  has  been  the  worst  enemy  of  sci- 
entific poor  relief.  Progress  began  in  Iowa  when  a 
classification  of  the  poor,  with  special  treatment  for 
each  class,  became  possible.  This  classification  came 
about  chiefly  in  connection  with  three  classes  of 
paupers,  namely,  soldiers  and  their  families,  chil- 
dren, and  defectives.  The  special  treatment  afford- 
ed soldiers  and  marines  in  local  relief  has  been  no- 
ticed briefly  in  connection  with  the  discussion  of  the 
poorhouse. 

ILLEGITIMATE  CHILDREN 

The  child  of  abnormal  social  relations  first  arrest- 
ed the  attention  of  the  poor  authorities;  and  that 
unhappy  being,  the  illegitimate  child,  was  the  sub- 
ject of  the  earliest  poor  laws  respecting  the  care  of 
children.  The  motives,  however,  which  singled  him 
out  for  treatment  were  not  the  humane  sentiments  of 
pity  or  the  desire  to  give  him  a  fair  chance  for  man- 
hood and  independence,  but  the  desire  to  prevent 
him  from  becoming  a  charge  upon  the  community: 
it  was  partly  a  sordid  motive  and  partly  a  legitimate 

195 


196      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

desire  to  place  social  responsibility  where  it  be- 
longed. 

So  far  as  Iowa  is  concerned  the  legislation  relative 
to  this  class  of  children  goes  back  to  the  act  ap- 
proved in  Michigan  Territory  on  April  12,  1827, 
which  was  extended  over  Wisconsin  Territory  in 
1836  and  still  later  over  the  Territory  of  Iowa.  The 
Iowa  Territorial  legislature  by  an  act  approved  on 
January  4,  1840,  reenacted  practically  this  same 
statute,  except  that  county  commissioners  were  sub- 
stituted for  overseers  of  the  poor.  These  acts  pro- 
vided that  the  father  of  the  child  should  furnish 
bonds  to  the  overseers  of  the  poor  in  the  one  case, 
and  in  the  other  to  the  county  commissioners,  in  or- 
der to  relieve  the  township  or  county  of  responsibil- 
ity for  the  support  of  the  child.273 

The  Code  of  1851  contained  practically  the  same 
provisions,  except  that  the  county  judge  took  the 
place  of  the  overseers  of  the  poor,  or  the  county 
commissioners.  There  was  added  the  express  pro- 
vision, however,  that  the  father  should  give  bonds  to 
insure  that  the  child  should  not  become  chargeable 
to  any  county  in  the  State.274  No  changes  were  made 
in  the  Revision  of  1860,  save  that  the  county  super- 
visors supplanted  the  county  judge.275  The  only 
modifications  to  be  found  in  the  Code  of  1873  were 
the  provisions  that  the  court,  rather  than  the  mother 
of  the  child,  should  determine  the  sum  or  sums  the 
father  must  pay  her  for  the  support  of  the  child,  and 
that  the  court  could  change  the  amount  at  any 
time.276 


NORMAL  CHILDREN  197 

From  that  date  to  the  present  time  no  changes 
have  been  made  in  the  statutes.  Numerous  decisions 
have  been  rendered  by  the  courts,  however,  which 
indicate  plainly  that  the  whole  purpose  of  the  laws 
upon  this  subject  was  to  secure  the  maintenance  of 
the  bastard  child.  For  example,  if  another  than  the 
father  of  the  child  married  the  woman  while  she  was 
enciente,  knowing  that  fact,  by  reason  of  marrying 
her  he  came  to  stand  in  loco  parentis  to  the  child, 
and  consequently  the  real  father  could  not  be  held 
for  its  maintenance.277 

SOLDIERS'  ORPHANS 

Keference  has  been  made  to  measures  to  relieve 
the  families  of  soldiers  of  the  Civil  War  outside  of 
the  poorhouse.278  Born  of  universal  gratitude  to  the 
men  who  risked  their  lives  for  the  Union,  these 
measures  were  the  first  expression  of  revolt  against 
the  sad  condition  of  the  poor  in  these  county  houses. 
Sentiments  of  humanity  rebelled  against  the  inhu- 
manity which  would  thrust  the  widow  or  children  of 
a  man  whose  only  fault  was  patriotism  into  an  insti- 
tution which  might  be  endurable  as  the  only  home  of 
the  social  derelicts  usually  predominating  there.  To 
this  institution  soldiers '  families  must  never  be  sent. 
Soldiers'  children,  therefore,  shared  with  their 
mothers  the  relief  provided  for  them  in  their  homes 
to  the  extent  of  not  more  than  two  dollars  each  per 
week.  This  provision  for  the  relief  of  soldiers '  wid- 
ows and  orphans,  however,  did  not  satisfy  the  senti- 
ment of  the  times.  To  Iowa  belongs  the  credit  of 


198      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

priority  in  establishing  soldiers'  orphans'  homes. 
Even  before  the  close  of  the  war  homes  for  soldiers' 
orphans  were  opened  in  the  State  as  private  enter- 
prises —  one  located  at  Davenport  and  one  at  Cedar 
Falls.  The  leaders  in  this  movement  were  Judge 
C.  C.  Cole,  who  was  president  of  the  Iowa  Soldiers ' 
Orphans'  Home  before  it  was  taken  over  by  the 
State  in  1866,  and  Mr.  Ingalls,  the  president  of  the 
institution  at  that  date.  These  homes  were  at  first 
supported  by  voluntary  contributions  gathered  from 
soldiers  in  the  army  and  from  public  spirited  cit- 
izens ;  but  the  institutions  and  the  orphans  in  them 
were  taken  over  by  the  State  when  the  ''Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  Iowa  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home" 
was  established  by  the  Eleventh  General  Assembly 
in  1866. 2T9  A  tax  of  three-eighths  of  a  mill  on  the 
dollar  was  to  be  levied  by  the  Census  Board  of  the 
State  for  the  support  of  this  institution,280  the  prin- 
cipal department  of  which  was  located  at  Davenport, 
with  a  branch  at  Cedar  Falls  and  later  one  at  Grlen- 
wood.281 

This  same  act  made  provision  also  for  the  creation 
of  a  "Soldiers'  County  Orphan  Fund",  to  be  used 
for  the  maintenance  and  education  of  soldiers'  or- 
phans in  each  county.  This  provision,  however,  was 
not  obligatory  upon  the  counties.  The  assessor  in 
each  ward  and  township  was  to  make  an  enumeration 
of  all  the  children  of  deceased  soldiers  and  make  an 
accurate  report  to  the  county  supervisors.  The  lat- 
ter might  levy  a  tax,  not  to  exceed  one-half  mill  on 
the  dollar,  if  there  were  any  such  orphans  in  the 


NORMAL  CHILDREN  199 

county  needing  aid.  It  was  expressly  provided  that 
these  provisions  for  a  county  fund  were  not  to  be 
construed  so  as  to  prevent  the  orphans,  or  a  part  of 
them,  from  being  sent  to  any  orphans'  home  in  the 
State.  The  supervisors,  moreover,  were  to  admin- 
ister this  fund.282 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  State  Orphans'  Homes 
were  admirably  managed,  either  on  the  cottage  plan 
or  with  a  grouping  of  the  orphans  in  each  institu- 
tion into  wards  with  a  special  matron  over  each 
group,  and  with  provision  for  good  schools  in  the  in- 
stitutions and  later  for  the  installation  of  special 
equipment  for  trade  training,  it  soon  began  to  be 
felt  that  no  matter  how  good  an  institution  was,  it 
was  not  ideal.  Governor  Merrill,  in  a  special  mes- 
sage to  the  legislature  on  April  3,  1868,  voiced  this 
feeling.  He  urged  that  the  trustees  of  the  Home,  in 
certain  approved  cases,  should  pay  to  the  mothers  a 
sum  equal  to  the  estimated  cost  of  the  children's  sup- 
port at  the  institution  and  allow  the  children  to  re- 
main at  home.  His  reasons  for  this  proposal  were 
that  in  some  cases  the  child  would  be  better  cared 
for  "under  the  combined  influences  of  both  duty  and 
affection",  and  that  it  would  lessen  what  seemed  to 
be  undue  severity  to  the  mother  in  depriving  her  of 
the  only  part  of  her  family  left  her  by  the  cruel  ne- 
cessities of  war  —  her  children.283 

The  suggestion  by  Governor  Merrill  was  not  fol- 
lowed; but  in  1868  the  legislature  provided  for  the 
adoption  of  any  child  from  a  soldiers'  orphans' 
home  into  a  good  family,  and  for  the  discharge  from 


200      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

the  home  by  the  trustees  of  the  institution  of  any 
child  who,  himself,  or  whose  mother  had  sufficient 
means  to  provide  for  him.28*  This  law  was  prompted 
partly  by  the  fact  that  numerous  soldiers'  children 
whose  fathers  and  in  some  cases  both  parents  were 
still  living  had,  under  a  liberal  interpretation  of  the 
law,  been  admitted  to  the  Homes.  Governor  Merrill 
declared  that  the  State  had  not  yet  undertaken  to 
care  for  the  children  of  surviving  soldiers  of  the  late 
war,  and  urged  that  provision  be  made  for  the  adop- 
tion of  children  from  the  Homes  into  good  families 
and  that  a  more  precise  definition  be  made  by  statute 
of  the  proper  children  to  be  received.285 

If  the  children  were  to  be  kept  in  the  Home  it  was 
felt  by  large  numbers  of  people  that  they  should  be 
trained  in  some  useful  trade.  From  the  first  they 
were  taught  to  work  at  such  tasks  as  a  Home  with 
rather  a  small  amount  of  ground  attached  permitted 
—  the  boys  working  in  the  garden  and  preparing  the 
necessary  stove-wood  and  doing  the  heavy  work 
about  the  institution,  and  the  girls  learning  house- 
work. But  it  was  early  realized  that  especially  for 
the  boys  trade  training  was  essential.  And  so,  by  an 
act  approved  on  March  21,  1874,  provision  was  made 
for  the  introduction  of  industrial  training  into  the 
Homes.286 

An  act  approved  on  March  15,  1876,  represented 
%an  endeavor  to  increase  the  educational  privileges 
afforded  the  children  in  the  Homes  by  providing 
that  they  were  to  be  given  the  opportunity  to  obtain 
as  good  an  education  as  could  be  gained  in  the  com- 


NORMAL  CHILDREN  201 

mon  schools  and  were  to  be  furnished  some  useful 
employment.  Further  provision  was  made  in  the 
same  act  that  any  profits  accruing  from  the  labor  of 
these  orphans  should  be  used  for  the  general  support 
of  the  Home.  The  children,  moreover,  were  to  be 
assisted  in  finding  homes  and  employment  after  their 
discharge.287 

In  the  natural  course  of  events,  with  the  passage 
of  a  few  years  the  need  for  so  many  institutions  de- 
creased. This  fact,  together  with  the  frequent  adop- 
tion of  children  into  families,  conspired  to  foster 
measures  and  suggestions  for  the  reduction  of  the 
number  of  these  Homes;  a  bill  providing  for  the 
consolidation  of  the  three  Homes  introduced  in  the 
House  in  1874  went  to  a  third  reading,  but  was  de- 
feated by  a  vote  of  forty-six  to  forty-eight.  From 
the  records  it  is  evident  that  the  chief  cause  for  its 
defeat  was  the  fact  that  it  contemplated  the  closing 
of  the  smallest  of  these  Homes  —  the  one  at  Glen- 
wood,  which  was  the  only  one  in  western  Iowa.  An 
amendment  was  offered  and  passed  during  the  dis- 
cussion upon  the  bill  which  reveals  the  feeling  that 
institutions,  no  matter  how  good,  lacked  the  influ- 
ence of  a  good  home.  It  provided  that  the  children 
at  Glenwood  should  be  sent  to  their  parents  and 
guardians  and  that  these  parties  should  be  paid 
eight  dollars  a  month  for  the  maintenance  of  each 
child  until  he  or  she  was  fourteen  years  of  age.288 

Two  years  later  the  decrease  in  the  number  of 
soldiers'  orphans  in  these  institutions  had  become 
so  striking  that  Governor  Carpenter  pointed  out  the 


202      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

fact  that  it  would  be  necessary  either  to  close  the 
institutions  or  to  open  them  to  others  than  soldiers' 
orphans.  This  latter  policy  was  recommended  by 
the  superintendents  and  trustees  of  the  Homes  and 
by  the  Governor,  who  argued  that  the  State  would 
save  the  cost  of  sustaining  such  an  institution  in 
raising  to  useful  citizenship  indigent  orphans  who 
otherwise  would  be  neglected  and  become  criminals 
or  be  left  to  grow  up  to  a  dependency  in  the  poor- 
houses.  He  insisted  that  the  proposal  was  not  un- 
heard of,  since  New  York  had  recently  removed  all 
children  from  almshouses  in  that  State  —  adding 
that  no  event  since  the  Emancipation  Proclamation 
had  caused  more  rejoicing.289 

The  legislature  responded  to  these  suggestions  by 
making  a  number  of  radical  changes  in  the  laws  rela- 
tive to  the  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Homes.  An  act  ap- 
proved on  March  15,  1876,  provided  for  the  closing 
of  the  Homes  at  Glenwood  and  Cedar  Falls  and  for 
the  transference  of  their  inmates  to  the  institution 
at  Davenport.  Besides  permitting  the  admission  of 
such  destitute  children  as  in  the  judgment  of  the 
trustees  should  be  admitted,  the  law  also  changed  the 
membership  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  from  a  board 
composed  of  one  person  from  the  county  where  each 
Home  was  located  and  two  appointed  from  other 
parts  of  the  State,  to  one  composed  of  three  persons 
from  the  State  at  large.  Furthermore,  the  county 
from  which  others  than  soldiers'  orphans  were  sent 
was  made  chargeable  for  their  support  —  a  provi- 
sion which  unfortunately  resulted  in  the  support  of 


NORMAL  CHILDREN  203 

most  orphans  except  soldiers '  orphans  in  the  county 
poorhouses  or  in  the  State  Reform  School.290 

For  a  number  of  years  after  the  consolidation  of 
the  various  Orphans '  Homes  at  Davenport  the  num- 
ber of  inmates  decreased.  In  1871  there  was  a  total 
in  the  three  institutions  of  718.291  In  1891,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  total  number  of  soldiers'  orphans  in 
the  institution  at  Davenport  had  decreased  to  88. 
This  decrease  had  begun  to  be  felt  in  1876,  when  the 
legislature  closed  the  Homes  at  Glenwood  and  Cedar 
Falls  and  opened  the  Home  at  Davenport  for  the 
reception  of  other  destitute  orphans.  An  interest- 
ing fact,  however,  is  that  from  1891  to  1905,  with  the 
exception  of  the  year  1899,  there  was  a  gradual  in- 
crease in  the  number  of  soldiers'  orphans  in  the 
Home.292  Governor  Drake  in  his  biennial  message 
of  January  11,  1898,  referred  to  this  strange  circum- 
stance. He  accounted  for  it  by  pointing  out  the  pos- 
sibility that  many  had  hitherto  been  sent  to  the 
Home  as  county  children  whom  more  thorough  in- 
vestigation showed  to  be  soldiers'  orphans.  Anoth- 
er explanation,  however,  is  possible,  namely,  that 
this  increase  came  from  the  second  families  of  sol- 
diers.293 

The  Board  of  Control  was  created  by  the  Twenty- 
seventh  General  Assembly  in  1898,  displacing  the 
various  boards  of  trustees.  Accordingly,  on  July 
1st  of  that  year  the  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home,  with 
the  other  charitable  and  correctional  institutions  of 
the  State,  came  under  the  control  of  this  Board.294 
In  the  first  biennial  report  of  the  new  Board  certain 


204      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

recommendations  were  made  for  amendments  to  the 
law  governing  the  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home.  Of 
chief  interest  in  this  connection  is  the  recommenda- 
tion that  the  Code  be  so  amended  that  no  person 
should  be  admitted  as  an  inmate  of  the  Soldiers' 
Orphans'  Home  until  his  application  had  been  made 
to  and  approved  by  the  Board  of  Control.  It  was 
also  recommended  that  the  adoption  of  children  from 
the  Home  should  be  subject  to  the  decision  of  the 
superintendent  of  the  institution  and  the  Board  of 
Control,  and  that  this  control  should  be  so  absolute 
that  the  consent  of  the  parents  or  guardians  should 
not  be  required  in  those  cases  where  the  parents  and 
guardians  were  either  dissolute  or  immoral  in  their 
habits,  or  were  unfit  to  have  charge  of  or  to  rear  the 
children.295 

From  the  time  of  the  opening  of  the  institution  to 
all  destitute  orphans  in  1876  soldiers'  orphans  have 
had  the  preference  of  admission.  By  a  law  ap- 
proved on  February  19,  1906,  the  Thirty-first  Gen- 
eral Assembly  added  the  children  of  sailors  and 
marines  to  the  preferred  class  for  admission  to  the 
Home  ;296  and  this  same  General  Assembly  by  a  law 
approved  on  April  5, 1906,  provided  for  the  adoption 
or  placing  out  on  contract  of  children  in  the  Soldiers ' 
Orphans'  Home  at  Davenport.297  In  response  to  the 
recommendations  of  the  State  Board  of  Control,  pro- 
vision was  also  made  for  the  appointment  of  two 
State  agents  by  the  Board  of  Control  to  find  suitable 
homes  or  positions  and  employment  when  desirable 
for  the  inmates  of  the  Soldiers '  Orphans '  Home  and 


NORMAL  CHILDREN  205 

the  Industrial  Schools.  These  agents  were  also  to 
exercise  supervision  over  those  placed  out  in  this 
manner,  and  to  examine  their  conduct  and  their  sur- 
roundings. If  they  found  the  latter  bad,  they  were 
required  to  find  other  homes  for  these  children  or 
other  places  of  employment  and  report  the  facts  to 
the  Board  of  Control.298 

Further  extension  of  control  over  these  children 
was  granted  the  Board  by  an  act  approved  on  March 
28,  1911.  This  act  provided  that  children  received 
into  the  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home,  no  matter  how 
received,  were  wards  of  the  State  and  unless  adopted 
under  the  law,  might  be  placed  by  the  superintendent 
with  any  person  or  family  of  good  standing  and  char- 
acter, where  they  would  be  cared  for  and  properly 
educated  under  articles  of  agreement  between  the 
superintendent  and  the  person  with  whom  they  were 
placed.  These  articles  of  agreement  were  to  be  ap- 
proved by  the  Board  of  Control,  the  duty  of  which 
was  to  provide  for  the  custody,  care,  maintenance, 
and  earnings  of  the  child  for  an  agreed  time,  not  to 
extend  beyond  the  child's  majority.299  This  provi- 
sion grew  out  of  the  fact  that  the  Board  was  having 
difficulty  in  securing  the  adoption  of  children  from 
the  Home  by  the  people  of  Iowa.  As  a  consequence 
of  this  fact,  and  of  certain  tendencies  to  be  dis- 
cussed under  the  next  section,  the  Home  was  becom- 
ing overcrowded. 


206      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

DEPENDENT   CHILDREN  OTHER  THAN  SOLDIERS' 
ORPHANS 

The  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Homes  had  not  been  in 
operation  many  years  before  their  advantages  over 
the  poorhouse  as  institutions  in  which  to  care  for 
dependent  children  became  apparent.  The  compar- 
ative excellence  of  these  Homes  for  soldiers'  or- 
phans, as  well  as  the  decreasing  number  of  this  class 
of  dependent  children,  forced  upon  the  minds  of 
people  the  question  of  throwing  these  Homes  open 
for  other  dependent  children.  In  the  legislature  on 
January  26,  1874,  Mr.  Tufts  presented  to  the  House 
a  petition  from  Mr.  R.  A.  Mclntyre  and  others,  pray- 
ing that  the  Orphans '  Homes  of  Iowa  be  opened  to 
other  orphans.  Within  the  next  month  more  than 
fifteen  petitions,  asking  for  the  same  thing,  were 
presented  to  the  House.  Some  of  these  were  placed 
on  file  and  others  were  referred  to  the  Committee 
on  Orphans'  Homes.300  In  the  Senate,  also,  a  large 
number  of  petitions  was  presented  on  the  same  sub- 
ject.301 No  action  was  taken,  however,  by  the  leg- 
islators at  this  session. 

In  his  first  biennial  message  on  January  23,  1874, 
Governor  Carpenter  pointed  out  the  fact  that  two 
years  before  there  had  been  a  total  of  718  children 
in  the  various  Homes ;  and  that  at  the  time  he  was 
speaking  the  report  showed  that  there  was  a  total 
of  508.  "The  work  of  this  great  charity,"  he  re- 
marked, "as  the  children  of  the  soldiers  pass  beyond 
need  of  its  help,  draws  to  a  close. ' '  In  view  of  this 
fact  and  of  the  investments  made  by  the  State,  the 


NORMAL  CHILDREN  207 

board  of  trustees  and  the  superintendents  recom- 
mended that  the  Homes  be  open  to  all  orphans.302 
Two  years  later  (January  12,  1876)  Governor  Car- 
penter showed  that  the  decrease  which  he  had  noted 
two  years  before  had  gone  steadily  on,  the  total  num- 
ber in  all  the  institutions  at  the  time  being  but  298. 
He  remarked  that  this  fact  indicated  that  within  the 
next  two  years  it  would  be  necessary  to  close  the 
institutions  entirely  unless  they  should  be  opened  for 
the  reception  of  other  orphans.  Therefore  he  strong- 
ly urged  that  the  recommendations  of  the  superin- 
tendents and  trustees  for  the  opening  of  these  insti- 
tutions as  general  orphans'  homes  be  adopted  by 
the  legislature.  It  was  his  belief  that  the  State 
would  save  the  cost  of  such  an  institution  in  raising 
to  useful  citizenship  in  these  institutions  indigent 
orphans  who,  if  unprovided  for,  would  become  crim- 
inals. Reference  has  already  been  made  in  another 
connection  to  the  fact  that  in  support  of  his  recom- 
mendation he  pointed  out  that  New  York  on  the  first 
day  of  January  had  removed  all  pauper  children 
from  county  almshouses  to  State  asylums.303 

In  accordance  with  these  recommendations  so  of- 
ten repeated,  the  Sixteenth  General  Assembly  passed 
a  law  approved  on  March  15,  1876,  which  permitted 
the  trustees  of  the  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home  at  Dav- 
enport to  receive  such  destitute  children  as  should, 
in  their  judgment,  be  admitted. 

The  extension  of  the  privileges  of  the  Home  to  in- 
digent orphans  in  general  was  strictly  limited  to 
those  who  had  a  legal  settlement  in  the  State  of  Iowa, 


208      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

and  by  the  further  proviso  that  soldiers'  orphans 
were  to  have  the  preference  in  admission.  More- 
over, this  act  provided  that  the  application  for  ad- 
mission was  to  be  made  by  the  board  of  supervisors 
of  the  county  where  the  child  resided.  Thus  the 
whole  matter  of  determining  whether  a  child  should 
be  cared  for  in  the  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home  or  by 
some  other  method  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
board  of  supervisors  of  each  county.  The  act,  fur- 
thermore, provided  that  the  cost  of  transporting  and 
supporting  other  than  soldiers'  orphans  in  this  in- 
stitution should  fall  upon  the  county  —  a  provision 
which  permitted  the  economic  motive  to  dominate  in 
the  determination  of  where  an  orphan  should  be 
cared  for.304 

During  the  twenty-eight  years  when  other  orphans 
than  those  of  soldiers  were  received  and  cared  for  in 
the  Home  at  the  expense  of  the  county  from  which 
they  came  some  interesting  things  occurred  which 
throw  much  light  upon  the  inadequacy  of  the 
economic  motive  to  secure  social  welfare.  Governor 
Gear,  in  his  first  biennial  message  on  January  13, 
1880,  spoke  of  the  existing  urgency  for  legislative 
action  in  the  interest  of  the  dependent  and  indigent 
children  of  Iowa.  He  believed  that  the  number  and 
the  needs  of  such  children  were  much  greater  than 
had  been  supposed.  He  said  that  the  benevolent 
intent  of  the  Sixteenth  General  Assembly  in  permit- 
ting the  admission  of  indigent  children  had  for  rea- 
sons of  economy  not  worked  for  the  welfare  of  the 
children,  because  of  the  fact  that  the  law  provided 


NORMAL  CHILDREN  209 

that  the  board  of  supervisors  in  each  county  must 
direct  the  placing  of  these  children  in  the  Home  and 
held  the  county  responsible  for  the  cost  of  support- 
ing children  so  placed.  On  this  point  he  added : 

In  other  words,  the  several  boards  of  supervisors  in 
question  have  preferred  that  the  indigent  children  of  their 
counties  shall  be  either  remitted  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the 
poor-house,  or  thrown  upon  the  fitful  charities  of  a  world 
whose  benefactions  in  such  relation  are  as  often  harmful 
as  helpful.  These  failures  of  the  respective  boards  of  su- 
pervisors to  place  the  dependent  children  of  their  coun- 
ties in  an  institution  wherein  education,  careful  training 
in  good  habits,  regularity  of  employment  in  labor  suited 
to  capacity  and  age,  and  association  in  groups  approximat- 
ing the  family  relation  would  supplement  mere  provision 
for  clothing  and  food,  have  certainly  resulted  from  a  mis- 
taken policy.  ' '  Economy, ' '  falsely  so-called,  has  incited  to 
this.  But  the  State  may  well  inquire  whether  it  can  afford 
to  allow  any  county  to  practice  such  "economy"  at  its  ex- 
pense and  to  the  future  peril  of  the  property  and  lives  of 
its  citizens.  No  fact  in  social  science  is  more  clearly  de- 
monstrated than  that  the  criminal  classes  find  their  most 
numerous  and  constant  reinforcements  from  the  ranks  of 
the  neglected,  and  hence  the  certainly  soon  to  be  vicious, 
children  and  youth.  It  is  so  much  cheaper  so  to  care  for 
the  indigent  children  of  the  State  as  that  these  may  con- 
stantly be  kept  under  the  influence  of  education,  industry, 
and  good  morals,  than  to  neglect  them  when  children,  and 
to  provide  for  them  in  poor-houses,  jails,  and  penitentiaries 
when  adults,  that  a  true  regard  for  the  interests  of  the  tax- 
payers must,  I  am  convinced,  urge  the  General  Assembly 
to  a  thoughtful  consideration  of  the  insufficiency  of  the  ex- 
isting laws  in  that  regard.  Such  a  consideration  must  im- 


210      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

pel  to  the  conclusion  that  the  State  can  neither  afford  to 
allow  its  dependent  children  to  become  " street  Arabs"  and 
"hoodlums"  or  permit  them  to  be  domiciled  in  poor-houses 
to  be  educated  into  perpetual  pauperism,  or  be  started  on 
the  highway  to  the  State's  prison.305 

In  support  of  this  contention  Governor  Gear  cited 
the  fact  that  during  the  previous  twelve  years  only 
five  per  cent  of  the  inmates  of  the  Home  had  failed 
to  lead  respectable  and  worthy  lives.  As  indicating 
the  extent  of  the  danger  which  the  false  economy  of 
boards  of  supervisors  had  produced  in  the  State,  he 
said  that  on  October  1, 1880,  there  were  no  less  than 
twenty-six  girls  and  forty-four  boys  over  five  years 
of  age  in  poorhouses  in  sixteen  counties  of  the  State. 
He  therefore  urged  very  strongly  that  the  legislature 
prohibit  the  placing  of  children  above  two  years  of 
age  in  any  poorhouse,  and  that  it  pass  laws  requiring 
every  child  destitute  of  proper  parental  care,  or  care 
on  the  part  of  relatives,  or  for  whom  adequate  pro- 
vision otherwise  could  not  be  made,  to  be  placed  in 
the  Orphans'  Home  at  the  charge  of  the  county 
where  settlement  had  been  established.306  Finally, 
in  his  second  biennial  message  on  January  10,  1882, 
Governor  Gear  repeated  these  recommendations  and 
said  that  there  were  at  that  time  in  the  poorhouses 
of  the  State  eighty-five  children  under  five  years  of 
age,  fifty-four  between  five  and  ten,  and  twenty-eight 
between  ten  and  fifteen.307 

These  recommendations  of  Governor  Gear  secured 
no  response  from  the  legislature.  The  economic  mo- 
tive was  dominant,  and  indigent  children,  aside  from 


NORMAL  CHILDREN  211 

soldiers '  orphans,  continued  to  be  sent  to  the  county 
poorhouses  rather  than  to  the  State  Home.  The 
urgency  of  the  matter,  however,  appealed  also  to 
Gear's  successor,  Governor  Sherman,  who  in  his  first 
biennial  message  (January  15, 1884)  declared  that  so 
long  as  the  counties  were  forced  to  bear  the  expense 
of  the  support  of  indigent  children  in  the  State  Or- 
phans '  Home  and  the  law  permitted  the  supervisors 
the  option  of  sending  an  orphan  to  the  State  Home 
or  to  the  poorhouse,  there  was  no  hope  that  a  change 
would  be  made.  He  urged  therefore  that  the  State 
should  bear  the  expenses  of  the  support  of  other  or- 
phans as  well  as  of  those  of  soldiers  in  the  State 
Home  in  order  that  counties  might  be  led  to  transfer 
their  orphans  from  the  almshouses  to  this  Home.308 
This  recommendation  met  with  no  response  at  that 
time,  although  it  bore  fruit  later.  Two  years  later 
(1886)  Governor  Sherman  urged  that  a  law  be 
passed  prohibiting  the  sending  of  any  children  to  a 
poorhouse.309  If  he  had  any  hope  that  his  recom- 
mendation would  be  followed,  he  was  doomed  to  dis- 
appointment. 

For  twelve  years  there  is  no  reference  in  the  of- 
ficial documents  to  the  problem  of  placing  children 
in  the  poorhouses.  Not  until  Governor  Drake,  in  his 
biennial  message  of  January  11, 1898,  called  the  sub- 
ject once  more  to  the  attention  of  the  legislators,  is 
any  further  mention  of  this  question  to  be  found.  In 
that  message  Governor  Drake  communicated  to  the 
General  Assembly  the  remarkable  fact  that  many 
children  under  ten  years  of  age  were  sent  to  the  re- 


212      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

form  schools  as  criminals  by  the  counties  rather  than 
to  the  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home,  because  their  sup- 
port at  the  reform  school  was  at  the  expense  of  the 
State;  while  if  they  were  sent  to  the  Soldiers'  Or- 
phans' Home  they  must  be  supported  at  the  expense 
of  the  county.  It  seems  almost  unbelievable  that 
any  public  authorities  could  be  guilty  of  such  a 
practice  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  the  Governor 
spoke  of  it  in  such  certain  terms  and  based  his  state- 
ment on  the  report  of  the  Board  of  Trustees.  He 
pointed  out  the  immediate  need  of  decided  legisla- 
tive action.  "It  must  be  a  case  of  exceptional  de- 
pravity indeed, ' '  he  said, ' '  that  will  justify  sending  a 
child  of  that  tender  age  to  the  Industrial  school."  31° 
That  same  year  the  law  was  passed  creating  the 
State  Board  of  Control,  and  the  Soldiers'  Orphans' 
Home,  with  the  other  charitable  and  correctional  in- 
stitutions of  the  State,  passed  under  its  control.  In 
its  first  biennial  report  in  1899  the  Board  of  Control 
points  out  the  deplorable  fact  that  seventy-six  chil- 
dren were  inmates  of  the  poorhouses  of  the  State,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  the  law  provided  for  the  care  of 
such  children  in  the  Soldiers '  Orphans '  Home  at  the 
expense  of  the  county.  Under  these  circumstances 
the  Board  recommended  that  the  law  should  be  so 
changed  that  in  all  cases  boards  of  supervisors 
should  be  prohibited  from  keeping  children  in  the 
county  poorhouses  and  should  make  suitable  pro- 
vision for  their  care  elsewhere.  Moreover,  it  was 
declared  that  to  let  these  children  grow  up  amid  such 
surroundings  as  those  to  be  found  in  the  poorhouses 


NORMAL  CHILDREN  213 

was  to  be  considered  as  little  less  than  a  crime,  and 
the  matter  was  referred  to  the  legislature  as  one  de- 
manding immediate  attention. 

In  its  first  report  (1899),  the  Board  of  Control 
recommended  to  the  legislature,  as  has  been  noticed, 
that  application  for  admission  must  be  made  to  and 
be  approved  by  the  Board.  It  urged  further  that  the 
adoption  of  children  who  were  inmates  of  the  Home 
should  be  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  superin- 
tendent and  the  Board  of  Control,  and  that  such 
adoption  might  be  made  without  the  consent  of 
parents  or  guardians  if  the  latter  were  of  dissolute 
or  immoral  habits  and  unfit  to  have  charge  of  and 
rear  the  children.311 

No  response  was  made  by  the  General  Assembly  to 
these  suggestions  of  the  Board.  In  its  second  report 
in  1901,  therefore,  the  Board  of  Control  again  called 
the  attention  of  the  legislature  to  the  fact  that  chil- 
dren were  being  kept  in  the  poorhouses.  In  that 
year  they  reported  that  forty-six  children  under  fif- 
teen years  of  age  were  in  the  poorhouses  in  the  pre- 
ceding June.  Twenty-five  of  these  were  under  five 
years  of  age.  As  the  reason  for  this  deplorable  con- 
dition the  Board  cited  the  fact  that  it  cost  the  county 
less  to  support  them  there  than  in  the  Soldiers '  Or- 
phans '  Home ;  and  asked  the  legislature  for  author- 
ity to  transfer  all  poor  children  under  fifteen  years 
of  age  in  poorhouses,  at  the  cost  of  the  county  where 
each  had  his  legal  settlement,  to  the  Soldiers'  Or- 
phans' Home,  to  the  Institution  for  the  Feeble- 
minded, to  the  School  for  the  Deaf,  or  to  the  College 


214      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

for  the  Blind,  as  in  each  case  it  seemed  best  to  the 
Board.312  The  legislature  again  turned  a  deaf  ear  to 
this  recommendation. 

The  Thirtieth  General  Assembly,  however,  twenty- 
four  years  after  the  evil  was  first  called  to  the  atten- 
tion of  the  law-making  body  of  the  State,  passed  a 
half-way  measure  to  correct  it :  by  an  act  approved 
on  March  31,  1904,  in  an  effort  to  destroy  the  force 
of  the  economic  motive  which  retained  children  in 
the  poorhouses,  the  legislature  reduced  the  amount 
for  which  the  county  from  which  the  child  was  sent 
to  the  Soldiers '  Orphans '  Home  was  to  be  held  liable 
to  six  dollars  per  month  —  or  about  one-half  of  the 
cost  of  their  support  in  that  institution.  The  cost  in 
excess  of  six  dollars  was  to  be  paid  by  the  State.3113 

Recommendations  have  continued  to  be  made  by 
the  Board  of  Control  for  the  removal  of  all  children 
from  the  poorhouses ;  but  thus  far  these  recommen- 
dations have  been  treated  with  legislative  silence. 

Curious  illustrations  of  the  short-sightedness  of 
county  authorities  in  dealing  with  this  important 
problem  of  the  care  of  indigent  children  come  to 
light  in  the  statements  of  the  Board  of  Control  in  its 
report  in  1911.  Apparently  the  belief  was  widely 
entertained  by  parents,  judges,  boards  of  supervis- 
ors, and  others  interested  that  if  a  parent  could  not 
give  as  good  care  to  a  child  as  it  would  receive  in  the 
Soldiers '  Orphans '  Home  that  fact  was  sufficient  for 
sending  the  child  to  the  Home,  although  the  parents 
or  persons  responsible  for  his  care  were  financially 
able  to  maintain  them  elsewhere.  The  Board  com- 


NORMAL  CHILDREN  215 

plained  that  many  parents  seemed  to  regard  the 
Home  as  a  free  boarding-school,  with  the  result  that 
a  considerable  number  of  children  who  were  in  fact 
not  indigent  within  the  meaning  of  the  law  were  re- 
ceived into  the  Home. 

The  report  revealed  another  interesting  side-light 
upon  the  way  in  which  the  law  worked  out.  Refer- 
ence was  made  to  the  change  in  the  law  requiring  the 
State  to  pay  half  the  cost  of  maintenance  of  children 
whose  fathers  were  not  soldiers,  sailors,  or  marines, 
which  was  enacted  by  the  Thirtieth  General  As- 
sembly. The  Board  remarked  that  this  change  re- 
sulted in  many  cases  in  the  county  authorities  in- 
ducing parents  and  others  responsible  for  the  main- 
tenance of  these  children  to  agree  to  pay  the  half  of 
the  cost  of  their  maintenance  charged  to  the  county, 
and  to  let  the  State  pay  the  other  half.  The  Board 
observed  that  this  practice  had  greatly  increased  the 
number  of  children  in  the  Home.  It  even  charged 
that  the  courts  were  parties  to  these  agreements  en- 
tered into  by  the  parents  of  children  and  the  county 
authorities.  The  Board  urged  that  the  law  be  so 
changed  as  to  forbid  this  practice.  It  was  further 
recommended  that  those  in  charge  of  the  Home  be 
given  authority  by  law  to  place  children  who  came 
to  the  Home  in  homes  other  than  those  of  the 
parents.814 

One  change  was  made  by  the  last  General  Assem- 
bly with  reference  to  the  support  of  children  in  the 
Home,  when  it  was  provided  that  each  county  should 
be  liable  for  the  sum  of  six  dollars  per  month  for 


216      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

each  child  in  the  Soldiers '  Orphans '  Home  sent  from 
that  county,  just  as  the  law  had  previously  provided, 
except  that  when  the  total  number  in  the  institution 
fell  below  five  hundred  and  fifty  each  county  was  to 
pay  its  proportionate  part  of  the  expense.315 

In  this  connection  should  be  mentioned  an  effort 
made  by  Governor  Cummins  in  his  biennial  message 
of  January,  1906,  to  secure  the  adoption  of  a  family 
desertion  law.  He  believed  that  many  of  the  chil- 
dren who  were  becoming  dependent  became  so  by 
reason  of  the  desertion  of  their  natural  supporters.316 

In  making  a  general  survey  of  the  history  of  the 
State 's  treatment  of  normal  dependent  children  one 
is  struck  by  the  lack  of  constructive  measures  for 
the  care  of  such  children.  For  twenty-four  years 
Governors,  boards  of  trustees,  and  the  Board  of  Con- 
trol urged  without  result  the  necessity  of  a  simple 
legislative  act  which  would  have  taken  every  child 
out  of  every  poorhouse  in  the  State  and  forever  for- 
bidden the  placing  of  another  child  in  these  institu- 
tions. By  the  simple  expedient  of  reducing  by  half 
the  amount  for  which  each  county  is  held  responsible 
this  result  has  been  obtained  in  a  measure.  A  law, 
however,  forbidding  the  placing  of  children  in  poor- 
houses  still  remains  to  be  enacted.  In  1911  there 
still  remained  in  the  poorhouses  of  thirteen  counties 
of  Iowa  twenty-one  dependent  children.317  Fortu- 
nately the  other  counties  of  Iowa  at  that  date  had  no 
children  in  their  poorhouses.  So  far  as  the  law  is 
concerned,  however,  there  might  have  been  children 


NORMAL  CHILDREN  217 

in  every  one.  The  law  is  still  inadequate  to  prevent 
parents  and  counties  from  sending  to  the  State  Home 
children  who  should  be  cared  for  by  relatives.  An- 
other fact  which  has  been  clearly  demonstrated  is 
the  superiority  of  State  control  of  dependent  children 
by  a  special  board.  The  history  of  the  Soldiers'  Or- 
phans '  Home,  whatever  may  have  been  its  mistakes, 
affords  the  only  bright  page  in  the  legislative  history 
of  Iowa's  treatment  of  indigent  children.  The  laws 
providing  for  soldiers'  orphans,  permitting  the  ad- 
mission of  other  indigent  children,  and  providing  for 
their  placement  and  supervision  in  families  consti- 
tute the  only  constructive  legislation  on  the  care 
of  dependent  children,  aside  from  the  act  providing 
for  the  juvenile  court,  in  the  history  of  legislation  on 
the  relief  of  the  poor  in  Iowa. 

THE  CARE  OF  CHILDREN  IN  PRIVATE  INSTITUTIONS 

Very  early  in  the  history  of  the  State  efforts  were 
made  to  provide  for  orphan  asylums  under  private 
auspices.  On  January  25,  1848,  a  joint  resolution 
was  approved,  the  purport  of  which  was  that  the 
State 's  representatives  in  Congress  be  instructed  to 
use  their  best  endeavors  to  procure  a  donation  of 
five  sections  out  of  any  lands  belonging  to  the  gen- 
eral government  which  had  not  yet  been  disposed  of, 
in  or  near  the  township  of  Fairview  in  Jones  County 
or  in  the  adjoining  county  of  Linn,  near  Fairview 
Township.  Just  where  this  land  was  to  be  located 
was  to  be  determined  by  a  commissioner  to  be  ap- 
pointed for  that  purpose ;  and  the  land  was  to  be  used 


218      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

for  the  establishment  of  an  orphans'  asylum  and 
manual  labor  school.  The  land  was  to  remain  a 
perpetual  donation  and  the  use  and  rents  therefrom 
were  to  be  applied  for  the  benefit  of  poor  orphan 
children  and  such  other  indigent  persons  as  might 
be  admitted  to  the  institution  as  objects  of  charity.318 
This  project  so  far  as  can  be  discovered  came  to 
naught ;  but  it  was  the  beginning  of  the  establishment 
of  a  large  number  of  orphans'  asylums  throughout 
the  State,  usually  under  the  charge  of  some  church 
or  philanthropic  organization.  It  is  not  feasible 
within  the  limits  of  this  study,  however,  to  include 
a  history  of  these  various  institutions ;  they  can  be 
mentioned  only  as  the  State  came  into  connection 
with  them  for  purposes  of  supervision. 

A  quite  unusual  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  State 
toward  orphan  asylums  is  illustrated  by  the  act  ap- 
proved on  April  19, 1872,  providing  for  a  loan  by  the 
State  of  $5,000  to  an  asylum  for  orphan  children,  lo- 
cated at  Andrew  in  Jackson  County.  The  purpose  of 
this  loan  was  to  enable  the  institution  to  remain 
open.  To  secure  the  State  the  trustees  of  the  insti- 
tution were  to  give  a  note  and  a  first  mortgage  upon 
the  real  property  —  the  note  to  draw  no  interest  un- 
til due,  and  after  that  six  per  cent.  At  the  time  this 
act  was  passed  there  were  forty-eight  children  cared 
for  in  that  institution.  There  was  no  provision  in  the 
law,  however,  that  the  State  should  have  any  super- 
vision over  the  conduct  of  the  institution.  The  re- 
lationship was  almost  purely  an  economic  one,  al- 
though there  was  the  secondary  motive  that  the  in- 


NORMAL  CHILDREN  219 

stitution  should  continue  to  provide  a  refuge  for  or- 
phans.319 

It  was  not  until  1878  that  the  State  undertook  to 
control  the  conduct  of  private  institutions  for  de- 
pendents. The  first  step  in  this  direction  was  an  act 
of  March  26,  1878,  providing  for  the  incorporation 
of  homes  for  the  friendless  under  State  laws.  This 
act  provided  further  that  these  homes  should  have 
authority  to  receive,  control,  and  dispose  of  minor 
children  of  deceased  fathers  and  those  abandoned  by 
their  fathers  or  the  children  of  fathers  who,  even 
though  they  were  able,  had  failed  to  provide  for 
them.  The  State  was  given  no  rights  of  supervision 
after  incorporation,  except  such  control  as  lay  in  the 
possibility  of  the  withdrawal  of  the  charter.320 

By  a  statute  approved  on  April  10,  1902,  it  was 
provided  that  any  society  incorporated  under  the 
laws  of  the  State  for  the  purpose  of  receiving,  caring 
for,  placing  out  for  adoption,  or  in  any  way  improv- 
ing the  conduct  of  abandoned,  abused,  ill  treated, 
friendless,  or  orphan  children,  might  do  so  in  accord- 
ance with  the  terms  of  the  act.  Such  a  society  be- 
came the  legal  guardian  of  the  children  committed  to 
its  care. 

No  further  steps  were  taken  looking  towards  State 
control  of  such  institutions  until  the  Board  of  Con- 
trol was  given  supervision  thereof.  The  Board  was 
authorized  to  visit  and  require  such  information 
from  these  Homes  as  it  should  deem  necessary.  Each 
association  caring  for  children  as  provided  by  the  act 
was  required  to  file  with  the  Board  of  Control  dur- 


220      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

ing  January  of  each  year  a  report  stating  the  num- 
ber of  children  received,  the  number  returned  from 
families,  the  number  placed  in  homes,  the  number  de- 
ceased, the  number  returned  to  friends,  and  the  num- 
ber placed  in  State  institutions,  with  such  other  in- 
formation as  the  Board  might  require.  The  district 
court  was  given  authority,  on  a  showing  being  made 
that  such  an  association  had  abused  its  trust,  to  re- 
voke the  charter  of  incorporation.  The  act  further 
provided  that  children's  associations  incorporated  in 
other  States  should  not  place  children  in  any  family 
within  the  State  of  Iowa  until  it  had  first  furnished 
the  Board  of  Control  guarantees,  including  a  bond  of 
one  thousand  dollars,  that  no  child  having  an  incur- 
able or  contagious  disease,  a  deformity,  or  one  feeble- 
minded or  vicious  in  character  should  be  brought 
into  the  State.821  Under  this  law  such  institutions 
are  still  operating  in  the  State  of  Iowa. 

DEPENDENT  CHILDREN  OUTSIDE  OF  INSTITUTIONS 

Eef  erence  has  already  been  made  to  the  care  of  de- 
pendent children  in  the  poorhouses.  Iowa  inherited 
from  the  States  from  which  it  borrowed  most  of  its 
laws,  the  legal  practice  of  using  the  poorhouse  as  the 
temporary  refuge  of  pauper  children,  but  of  binding 
them  out  as  soon  as  possible  in  families  where  they 
could  grow  up  under  family  influences.  This  pro- 
vision, with  all  of  its  abuses,  was  the  most  humane 
provision  in  these  early  laws. 

Practically  every  code  which  has  been  adopted  in 
Iowa  has  provided  for  this  method  of  disposing  of 


NORMAL  CHILDREN  221 

children  in  the  poorhouses.  For  example,  the  Code 
of  1851  made  provision  for  the  binding  out  of  or- 
phans in  the  poorhouse  as  practically  the  only  way 
of  caring  for  this  class  of  dependents.  Children  in 
the  poorhouse  were  bound  out  by  the  directors  of 
that  institution  according  to  this  Code.322  If  the  child 
had  not  been  sent  to  the  poorhouse,  the  judge  of  the 
county  court  had  charge  of  the  binding  out.323 

The  same  provisions  obtained  in  the  Revision  of 
1860,  save  that  the  county  supervisors  took  the  place 
of  the  judge  in  binding  out  children  who  had  not  been 
sent  to  the  poorhouse.324  Under  the  provisions  of  the 
Code  of  1873  the  board  of  supervisors  bound  out 
those  in  the  poorhouse,  while  the  county  clerk  was 
vested  with  authority  in  the  cases  of  those  children 
who  had  not  yet  been  sent  to  that  institution.  The 
Code  of  1897  contained  certain  additions  to  these 
provisions.  For  example,  any  child  under  sixteen 
years  of  age  confined  within  any  poorhouse  or  house 
of  refuge  might  be  apprenticed  up  to  the  time  he  or 
she  was  eighteen  years  of  age.  If,  however,  the  child 
was  married  before  the  age  of  eighteen  the  articles 
of  apprenticeship  became  void.  This  Code  provided 
that  the  supervisors  or  the  board  of  trustees  of  a 
house  of  refuge  might  appoint  a  committee  from  its 
members  consisting  of  one  or  more  persons,  subject 
to  the  approval  of  the  district  court  or  judge  thereof, 
to  execute  the  articles  of  apprenticeship.325  With 
these  slight  administrative  changes  the  law  relative 
to  the  binding  out  of  pauper  children  has  remained 
unaltered  during  the  history  of  Iowa. 


222      POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

The  time-honored  custom  of  placing  children  in 
homes  where  they  could  grow  up  under  the  fostering 
influence  of  natural  family  life  has  come  into  popular 
favor  again.  Its  return  to  favor,  however,  has  not 
been  in  connection  with  children  in  the  poorhouse, 
but  has  been  revived  to  apply  to  children  in  orphans ' 
homes,  whether  public  or  private.  Two  years  after 
the  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home  was  established,  in 
1868,  the  act  was  passed  by  the  Twelfth  General  As- 
sembly, which  provided  for  the  adoption  of  any  child 
in  that  institution.326  As  has  been  noticed  in  a  pre- 
vious section,  it  was  at  a  considerable  later  date 
that  the  placing  out  of  children  on  contract  instead  of 
by  adoption  was  incorporated  in  the  laws  of  the 
State. 

The  first  person  to  place  great  emphasis  upon  the 
placing-out  system  as  against  the  institutional  sys- 
tem of  caring  for  orphans  was  Governor  Boies.  In 
his  first  biennial  message  on  January  12, 1892,  in  re- 
ferring to  the  Orphans'  Home  at  Davenport,  he 
urged  that  measures  be  adopted  by  the  legislature 
looking  to  the  removal  of  the  children  in  this  Home 
to  the  homes  of  respectable  families.  He  thought  it 
a  calamity  for  any  child  to  be  kept  in  a  "  home ' ',  de- 
pendent upon  the  charity  of  the  State  after  he  was 
old  enough  to  realize  that  he  was  dependent.  There- 
fore, he  argued  that  instead  of  building  larger  insti- 
tutions for  the  reception  of  these  unfortunates,  the 
State  should  be  devising  measures  to  insure  that 
everyone,  whether  fortunate  or  unfortunate,  should 
be  taught  to  do  everything  within  his  power  to  sup- 


NORMAL  CHILDREN  223 

ply  his  own  wants  instead  of  being  cared  for  through 
the  charity  of  others.827 

This  same  point  of  view  was  again  presented  by 
Governor  Boies  in  his  second  biennial  message  in 
1894,  in  criticising  the  existing  law  which  provided 
that  unless  the  parents  of  children  in  the  Orphans' 
Home  should  give  their  consent,  these  children  could 
not  be  placed  out  in  families.  In  his  judgment,  there 
was  no  kindness  to  anyone  in  such  a  law,  inasmuch 
as  no  institution  could  take  the  place  of  a  kind  and 
respectable  family.  He  argued  with  force  that  an 
education  in  such  an  institution  to  the  age  of  sixteen 
years,  if  it  accomplished  anything,  taught  the  child 
that  to  become  an  object  of  charity  was  not  a  condi- 
tion to  be  dreaded.  In  his  opinion  this  was  as  great 
a  calamity  as  could  happen  to  the  child.  Moreover, 
he  pointed  out  the  fact  that  these  children,  if  kept 
until  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  of  age,  must  leave  the 
Home;  and  if  they  had  no  friends  they  must  go 
among  strangers,  and  at  that  age  they  were  not  old 
enough  to  be  able  to  choose  correctly  a  course  of  life. 
The  Governor  believed  that  all  these  considerations 
plainly  demonstrated  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the 
State  to  place  these  children  in  comfortable  homes 
among  respectable  people  as  quickly  as  possible  after 
entering  the  Home.328  While  the  recommendations 
of  Governor  Boies  had  no  immediate  effect,  later  they 
were  fruitful  in  influencing  the  General  Assembly  to 
provide  two  State  agents  whose  business  it  was  to 
travel  constantly  about  the  State  in  order  to  secure 
homes  for  the  children.329 


224      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

A  very  important  step  in  providing  for  the  care 
of  dependent  children  outside  of  institutions  was 
taken  when  the  act  establishing  the  juvenile  court 
was  passed  by  the  Thirtieth  General  Assembly  and 
received  executive  approval  on  April  7,  1904.  Ac- 
cording to  this  act  the  district  court  was  clothed  with 
original  and  full  jurisdiction.  The  terms  of  the  law 
applied  to  children  under  sixteen  years  of  age  who 
were  not  inmates  of  a  State  institution  or  of  any  in- 
dustrial school  for  boys  or  girls,  and  to  all  children 
except  such  as  were  charged  with  offenses  punish- 
able by  life  imprisonment  or  death.  Moreover,  it 
provided  for  dependent  or  neglected  children  as  well 
as  for  delinquents.  Dependent  or  neglected  children 
were  defined  as  any  who  for  any  reason  are  destitute, 
homeless,  abandoned,  dependent  on  the  public  for 
support ;  or  who  have  not  parental  care  or  guardian- 
ship ;  or  who  habitually  beg  or  receive  alms ;  or  are 
living  in  any  house  of  ill  fame  or  with  any  vicious  or 
disreputable  person ;  or  whose  home  is  an  unfit  place 
for  children  by  reason  of  neglect,  cruelty,  or  deprav- 
ity on  the  part  of  the  parents,  guardian,  or  other  per- 
sons in  whose  care  the  child  may  be.  The  term  was 
also  made  to  include  a  child  less  than  ten  years  of 
age  who  is  found  begging  or  giving  public  entertain- 
ments on  the  streets  for  pecuniary  gain  for  himself 
or  others,  or  who  accompanies  or  is  used  by  such 
persons ;  or  who  by  reason  of  other  vicious,  base,  or 
corrupting  surroundings  comes  within  the  spirit  of 
this  act  in  the  opinion  of  the  court.  From  this  out- 
line it  will  be  seen  that  the  definition  is  broad  enough 


NORMAL  CHILDREN  225 

to  cover  almost  every  conceivable  situation  in  which 
a  child  might  be  which  would  be  detrimental  to  his 
welfare.  As  such  it  deserves  merited  commendation. 

Moreover,  the  court  was  given  authority  to  commit 
the  child  to  the  care  of  some  suitable  institution  or 
some  industrial  school  provided  by  law,  or  to  an  in- 
stitution maintained  by  some  association  whose  ob- 
ject was  to  care  for  and  find  suitable  homes  for  chil- 
dren. Such  an  association  must  be  one  of  those  ap- 
proved by  the  Board  of  Control.  The  law  provided 
also  for  guardianship  by  the  institution  to  which  the 
child  was  committed.  The  home  or  association, 
moreover,  was  made  a  party  to  the  adoption  when  a 
child  was  adopted  into  the  home  of  some  family. 
Again,  the  law  provided  that  the  support  of  such  a 
child  was  to  be  borne  by  the  parents  if  they  were 
able  to  carry  the  expense.  The  Board  of  Control 
was  to  designate  institutions  and  associations  to  have 
charge  of  juveniles  under  this  act,  and  was  given  the 
right  of  supervision,  oversight,  and  visitation.  These 
homes  and  associations  were  required  to  report  an- 
nually to  the  Board  of  Control  during  the  first  fifteen 
days  of  January.  Religious  belief  was  to  be  taken 
into  consideration  by  the  court  when  committing  a 
child  to  an  institution.  As  far  as  practicable,  the  as- 
sociation or  home,  when  it  was  controlled  by  a  re- 
ligious organization,  was  to  be  of  the  same  religious 
belief  as  that  of  the  parents  of  the  child. 

Moreover,  this  law  provided  for  the  adoption  or 
placing  out  on  contract  of  children,  in  all  cases  where 
it  could  properly  be  done,  in  such  a  manner  that  the 


226      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

child  would  find  a  place  in  an  approved  family,  be- 
come a  member  of  that  family,  and  thus  have  normal 
social  relationships.  No  other  law  has  ever  been 
passed  in  Iowa  for  the  care  of  dependent  children 
which  compares  with  this  one  in  its  wisdom.330 

By  an  act  approved  on  April  15, 1909  —  an  act  on 
contributory  dependency  —  a  further  step  was  taken. 
When  any  child  was  found  dependent  or  neglected 
according  to  the  definition  of  the  act  just  described, 
the  parents  or  any  other  persons  having  the  care  of 
such  a  child  who  had  by  any  act  or  remission  of  duty 
encouraged,  counselled,  or  contributed  to  the  neglect 
of  such  child,  or  was  responsible  for  his  neglect  or 
dependency,  were  to  be  deemed  guilty  of  contribu- 
tory dependency  and  proceeded  against  according  to 
the  provisions  of  this  act.  The  district  court  had 
original  jurisdiction  as  in  the  case  of  the  juvenile 
court  law. 

If  upon  a  hearing  the  court  found  the  person  guilty 
of  contributory  dependency,  judgment  was  to  be  en- 
tered by  the  court  requiring  such  person  to  do  or 
omit  to  do  any  act  concerning  which  complaint  was 
made  in  the  petition ;  and  proceedings  of  this  charac- 
ter might  be  continued  from  time  to  time  for  two 
years.  The  court  could  require  the  person  to  give 
bond  to  comply  with  the  orders  of  the  court,  and 
might  appoint  a  guardian  for  a  person  guilty  of  con- 
tributory neglect  or  dependency  who  was  a  spend- 
thrift or  habitual  drunkard  incapable  of  managing 
his  own  affairs.  Furthermore,  the  court  could  ap- 
point a  person  to  find  employment  for  the  person 


NORMAL  CHILDREN  227 

guilty  of  contributory  neglect  or  dependency,  if  that 
person  was  physically  or  mentally  able  to  do  work, 
but  claimed  he  could  not  find  work.  If  he  refused 
to  work  such  a  person  was  declared  to  be  guilty  of 
contempt.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  he  claimed  he 
could  find  work  and  did  not  do  so  within  a  reason- 
able time  to  be  fixed  by  the  court,  he  was  likewise  to 
be  considered  guilty  of  contempt. 

Another  section  of  this  act  made  it  the  duty  of  the 
court  to  commit  to  the  State  Hospital  for  Inebriates 
at  Knoxville  such  person,  when  the  contributory  de- 
pendency resulted  from  drunkenness.  After  his  re- 
lease the  court  was  to  appoint  a  probation  officer  to 
watch  him,  help  him  to  get  work,  and  aid  in  his 
reformation.  In  case  no  guardian  was  appointed  or 
in  case  the  person  guilty  of  contributory  dependency 
failed  to  supply  a  sufficient  sum  for  the  benefit  of  his 
family  and  it  was  deemed  necessary  by  the  court  to 
levy  upon  his  property,  including  wages,  for  the  ben- 
efit of  his  family,  the  statute  provided  that  he  should 
not  have  the  benefit  of  the  statutory  exemption. 

In  case  it  was  decided  to  leave  the  child  in  the  cus- 
tody of  the  person  guilty  of  contributory  dependency, 
the  court  was,  at  its  discretion,  either  to  name  the 
conditions  necessary  to  remove  the  contributory  de- 
pendency or  remove  the  child  from  the  custody  of 
such  person  temporarily  until  the  conditions  of  pro- 
bation were  complied  with  and  to  place  the  child  in  a 
juvenile  detention  home,  if  such  existed,  or  in  some 
suitable  institution  provided  for  by  the  juvenile 
court. 


228      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

In  case  the  person  adjudged  guilty  of  contributory 
dependency  failed  to  comply  with  the  orders  of  the 
court  the  child  could  be  dealt  with  as  an  abandoned 
child.  After  the  passage  of  the  two  years,  during 
which  the  court  might  continue  the  proceedings 
against  the  person  judged  guilty  of  contributory  de- 
pendency, if  that  person  failed  to  provide  a  sufficient 
support  for  the  child,  the  court  could  find  the  child 
abandoned.  In  case  the  child  was  adopted  under  the 
law  relative  to  abandonment  he  was  not  to  lose  his 
right  to  inherit  from  the  persons  from  whom  he  was 
taken  away. 

It  was  further  provided  that  the  law  was  to  be  con- 
strued liberally  in  favor  of  the  State  for  the  pur- 
pose of  the  protection  of  the  child  from  neglect  or  re- 
mission of  parental  duty  or  from  the  effects  of  im- 
proper conduct  or  acts  of  any  person  who  might 
cause,  encourage,  or  contribute  to  his  dependency  or 
neglect,  even  though  that  person  was  not  related  to 
the  child  in  any  way.831 

This  same  General  Assembly  by  an  act  approved 
on  April  27,  1909,  made  a  slight  change  in  the  ju- 
venile court  law  with  the  purpose  of  increasing  the 
number  of  courts.  The  superior  courts  were  substi- 
tuted for  district  courts  in  cities  and  were  given  con- 
current jurisdiction  in  the  administration  of  the 
juvenile  court  law  with  the  district  courts  of  the 
counties  in  which  the  superior  courts  were  located.332 
By  an  act  of  the  Thirty-fifth  General  Assembly,  ap- 
proved on  February  18,  1913,  Section  3165  of  the 
Code  of  1897,  the  section  dealing  with  the  support  of 


NORMAL  CHILDREN  229 

children  by  parents,  was  repealed  and  in  lieu  thereof 
there  was  enacted  a  provision  making  the  reasonable 
and  necessary  expenses  for  the  education  of  the  chil- 
dren chargeable  upon  the  property  of  both  husband 
and  wife,  or  either  of  them;  and  in  relation  thereto 
it  was  provided  that  they  can  be  sued  either  jointly 
or  separately  for  this  amount.833 

Finally,  the  last  General  Assembly  took  one  other 
step  that  shows  an  increased  interest  in  the  welfare 
of  dependent  children,  whatever  may  be  the  merits  of 
this  particular  act.  In  an  act  approved  on  April  19, 
1913,  provision  was  made  for  mothers'  pensions. 
This  law  is  an  amendment  to  the  sections  of  the  Code 
Supplement  of  1907  dealing  with  dependent  and 
neglected  children.  The  act  provides  that  if  the 
court  finds  that  the  mother  of  a  dependent  or  neglect- 
ed child  is  a  widow  and  that  the  mother  is  poor  and 
unable  to  properly  care  for  her  child,  but  is  other- 
wise a  proper  guardian,  and  that  it  is  for  the  welfare 
of  such  child  to  remain  at  home,  the  court  may  enter 
an  order  stating  such  to  be  the  facts  and  fixing  an 
amount  of  money  necessary  to  enable  such  mother  to 
properly  care  for  her  child.  Thereupon  it  becomes 
the  duty  of  the  county  board  of  supervisors  through 
the  overseer  of  the  poor  or  otherwise  to  pay  to  this 
mother  at  such  times  as  the  court's  order  may  des- 
ignate, the  specified  amount  for  the  care  of  the  de- 
pendent or  neglected  child.  This  is  to  continue  until 
a  further  order  of  the  court. 

A  limit,  however,  is  placed  upon  the  amount  to  be 
paid :  it  must  not  exceed  the  sum  of  two  dollars  per 


230      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

week  for  each  child.  Payments  shall  cease  when  any 
such  child  attains  the  age  of  fourteen  years.  Under 
this  act  any  mother  whose  husband  is  in  an  institu- 
tion under  the  supervision  of  the  Board  of  Control  is 
considered  a  widow.334 

Thus  has  the  State  proceeded  in  its  efforts  to  care 
for  dependent  children.  Starting  with  their  care  in 
the  county  poorhouse  or  binding  them  out  to  appren- 
ticeship in  families,  step  by  step  the  legislation  has 
proceeded  to  a  more  humane  and  scientific  care  of 
these  unfortunates.  The  first  mark  of  progress  is  to 
be  seen  in  connection  with  the  care  of  the  soldiers' 
orphans.  Marked  at  first  merely  by  pity  and  growing 
out  of  the  gratitude  for  the  heroic  sacrifices  of  the 
soldiers,  it  has  finally  come  to  the  scientific  basis. 
Modifications  have  been  introduced  into  the  original 
plan  so  that  not  only  the  children  of  soldiers  are 
cared  for,  but  other  dependent  children  as  well.  In 
place  of  the  original  motive  to  merely  provide  these 
children  food  and  clothing  and  an  education,  there 
has  come  the  desire  to  place  them  in  surroundings  in 
which  they  will  have  a  chance  to  grow  up  in  the  fam- 
ily circle  and  be  prepared  to  live  in  the  ordinary  re- 
lationships of  life.  Finally,  the  institution  has  be- 
come merely  a  temporary  home  where  these  children 
can  be  placed  until  they  are  put  out  into  the  homes  of 
the  people  of  the  State. 

Likewise,  step  by  step,  approved  methods  have 
been  introduced  into  the  private  homes  for  children 
and  child-placing  organizations.  Beginning  with 


NORMAL  CHILDREN  231 

sporadic  movements  here  and  there  over  the  State  to 
ameliorate,  at  least  to  a  degree,  the  evil  conditions 
surrounding  children  in  the  poorhouse,  these  private 
children's  institutions  have  been  standardized  and 
placed  under  the  supervision  of  the  State  Board  of 
Control.  They  provide  an  outlet  for  the  expression 
of  sympathy  for  the  child,  touched  by  religious  or 
personal  ideals,  while  they  supplement  the  rather  in- 
adequate and  somewhat  feeble  attempts  of  the  State 
to  provide  care  for  all  needy  children. 

Best  of  all,  constructive  measures  have  been  adopt- 
ed through  the  juvenile  court  law  and  the  contrib- 
utory dependency  law  whereby  the  evil  is  attacked 
at  its  source.  These  laws  have  grown  out  of  the  con- 
viction, based  upon  wide  experience,  that  the  de- 
pendent child  can  not  be  isolated  in  his  treatment 
from  his  parents  and  natural  associates.  And  final- 
ly, these  measures  have  been  supplemented  by  a  pro- 
vision which  enables  the  support  of  the  child  to  occur 
within  the  home  of  his  own  mother,  when  she  is  the 
proper  person  to  have  charge  of  him. 

Doubtless  the  administration  of  these  laws  is 
faulty.  Perfect  administration  must  always  depend 
upon  the  growth  of  social  ideals,  habits,  and  customs. 
Let  these  wise  and  constructive  measures  become 
grounded  in  the  social  life  of  the  State  and  estab- 
lished in  the  mass  of  social  sentiment  and  tradi- 
tion, let  the  faults  be  corrected  as  they  appear  in 
actual  experience ;  but  by  all  means  let  not  the  good 
work  that  has  been  done  in  constructive  legislation 
for  the  dependent  child  ever  be  given  up  until  a  plan 


232      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

has  been  worked  out  which  will  save  these  children 
to  lives  of  usefulness  and  independence. 

It  is  a  question  whether  the  administration  of  these 
laws  dealing  with  the  dependent  child  should  be  in 
the  hands  of  ordinary  judges,  who  under  the  present 
law  are  the  juvenile  court  judges,  or  whether  it 
should  not  rather  be  committed  to  a  special  court  or 
board  expert  in  dealing  with  problems  of  the  child. 
That,  however,  is  a  detail  which  should  not  lessen  the 
admiration  of  all  good  citizens  for  the  social  outlook 
of  the  present  laws  dealing  with  unfortunate  children 
and  their  support  until  some  better  method  is  de- 
vised. 


SPECIAL  CLASSES  OF  DEPENDENTS: 
DEFECTIVES 

THE  FEEBLE-MINDED 

Institutional  care  for  the  feeble-minded  was  late  in 
being  provided  in  Iowa,  for  it  was  not  until  1876  that 
the  State  Institution  for  the  Feeble-minded  was 
established  by  the  legislature.  As  far  back  as  1860, 
however,  the  General  Assembly  provided  that  idiots 
were  no  longer  to  be  admitted  to  the  hospital  for  the 
insane.  Up  until  that  time  it  had  been  the  practice 
to  send  adult  idiots  to  that  institution.  Children  who 
were  idiots  were  either  cared  for  in  their  own  homes 
or,  if  paupers,  in  the  county  poorhouse  as  other 
pauper  children.335  Adult  pauper  idiots,  moreover, 
were  to  be  cared  for  in  the  same  manner  as  other 
poor  after  this  date,  that  is,  for  the  most  part  in  the 
poorhouses.336  While  this  special  provision  of  the 
Revision  of  1860  was  not  repeated  in  the  later  codes, 
as  a  matter  of  fact  even  up  to  the  present  time  many 
pauper  idiots  continue  to  be  cared  for  in  the  poor- 
houses. 

Slowly  the  social  consciousness  of  the  State  was 
working  toward  a  better  system.  An  act  approved 
on  April  3, 1866,  made  it  possible  for  a  county  to  care 
for  its  indigent  idiots  or  imbeciles  in  some  special  in- 

233 


234      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

stitution  for  such  persons  either  in  Iowa  or  in  an- 
other State,  the  expenses  to  be  borne  by  the  county 
from  which  they  came.337  Doubtless  this  act  con- 
templated that  church  institutions  and  other  institu- 
tions of  a  private  nature  should  be  used  by  the  coun- 
ties for  the  care  of  these  unfortunates  in  the  absence 
of  a  State  institution  for  the  feeble-minded.  The 
superintendents  of  the  hospital  for  the  insane,  upon 
the  application  of  the  guardian  or  friend  of  any  in- 
digent idiot  person  or  of  any  indigent  imbecile  per- 
son a  resident  of  any  county  of  the  State  of  Iowa, 
and  upon  approval  by  the  board  of  supervisors  of 
that  county,  might  order  such  idiot  or  imbecile  to  be 
transferred  to  any  such  private  institution.  The  in- 
tent of  the  law  doubtless  was  defeated  in  actual  prac- 
tice by  the  provisions  that  such  applications  must  be 
approved  by  the  board  of  supervisors  of  the  county 
concerned  and  that  that  county  must  bear  the  ex- 
pense. 

The  law  itself  was,  however,  an  indication  that 
there  was  a  growing  sense  of  the  necessity  of  the 
segregation  of  idiots  and  imbeciles  from  the  ordinary 
insane.  The  fact  that  they  were  paupers,  so  far  as 
the  law-makers  were  concerned,  was  not  to  be  per- 
mitted to  interfere  with  that  benevolent  intention. 
Respect  for  county  autonomy,  however,  vitiated  an 
otherwise  good  law.  In  1873  Dr.  A.  Reynolds,  the 
medical  superintendent  at  the  Independence  Hospital 
for  the  Insane,  in  his  first  report,  stated  that  there 
were  then  in  that  institution,  contrary  to  the  law,  two 
idiotic,  epileptic  boys  who  had  been  transferred  from 


CAEE  OF  DEFECTIVES  235 

Mt.  Pleasant.  He  stated  that  the  census  of  1870 
showed  533  idiotic  persons  in  the  State,  and  he  urged 
that  suitable  provisions  be  made  for  their  care  and 
maintenance.388 

The  agitation  for  the  segregation  of  this  class  of 
defectives  and  for  their  care  and  education  in  a 
special  institution  continued.  In  their  report  to  the 
Governor  on  November  30,  1875,  the  Visiting  Com- 
mittee to  the  Insane  Hospitals  reported  that  their  in- 
quiries showed  a  total  of  not  less  than  ninety-two 
pauper  idiots  in  the  poorhouses  and  under  the  care 
of  local  authorities  that  year.  Besides  these,  they 
estimated  that  there  were  in  the  State  at  that  date 
more  than  eight  hundred  other  idiots  —  all  of  whom, 
it  was  declared,  should  be  cared  for  in  public  asy- 
lums.889 

Governor  Carpenter  in  his  second  biennial  mes- 
sage (1876)  said  that  a  school  for  the  feeble-minded 
would  have  to  be  established  in  the  course  of  time, 
and  suggested  that  the  buildings  of  the  discontinued 
Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home  at  Glenwood  be  used  for 
this  purpose.340  Along  with  this  suggestion  he  made 
various  others  as  to  the  use  that  might  be  made  of 
the  buildings  at  Glenwood,  such  as  a  hospital  for  the 
chronic  insane  and  a  hospital  for  inebriates. 

The  Sixteenth  General  Assembly,  by  an  act  ap- 
proved on  March  17, 1876,  diverted  the  property  pre- 
viously used  by  the  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home  at 
Glenwood  to  the  uses  of  an  Asylum  for  Feeble- 
minded Children.  A  board  of  three  trustees  was 
provided  for,  one  of  whom  must  be  a  resident  of 


236      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

Mills  County.  The  purpose  of  the  institution  was  to 
care  for,  support,  train,  and  instruct  feeble-minded 
children,  and  the  emphasis  was  placed  at  that  time 
upon  education  rather  than  upon  segregation.  Ad- 
mission to  the  institution  was  limited  to  children  be- 
tween the  ages  of  seven  and  eighteen.  They  were  to  be 
received  upon  application  by  the  father  and  mother, 
or  either,  if  the  other  was  either  dead  or  insane,  or  by 
the  guardian ;  and  in  all  other  cases  upon  application 
by  the  county  supervisors.  Parents  or  guardians 
were  to  support  the  children  in  this  institution  to  the 
extent  of  their  ability.  The  question  of  their  ability 
was  to  be  determined  by  the  county  board  of  super- 
visors. In  case  such  persons  were  unable  to  support 
them  the  children  were  to  be  supported  at  the  charge 
of  the  State.341 

The  Eighteenth  General  Assembly,  by  an  act  ap- 
proved on  March  26,  1880,  at  the  suggestion  of  Gov- 
ernor Gear  in  his  second  biennial  message,  provided 
that  the  expense  of  the  transportation  of  pauper 
children  to  the  institution  and  of  providing  clothing 
for  them  should  be  chargeable  upon  the  county  from 
which  they  came.  This  was  a  move  in  the  direction  of 
county  responsibility  which,  as  has  been  seen,  has 
played  so  great  a  part  in  the  support  of  all  indigent 
persons  in  the  State  of  Iowa.842 

One  further  step  was  taken  in  the  same  direction 
by  the  next  General  Assembly  in  an  act  approved  on 
March  10,  1882,  which  organized  the  machinery  by 
which  the  railroad  fare  and  the  charge  for  clothing 
were  to  be  collected.  The  bill  for  these  items  was  to 


CARE  OF  DEFECTIVES  237 

be  transmitted  to  the  county  auditor,  who  was  to  col- 
lect it  if  possible  from  the  relatives  or  guardian ;  and 
if  it  could  not  be  collected  in  this  manner  it  was  to  be 
paid  by  the  county.  This  same  act  changed  the  name 
of  the  institution  from  Asylum  for  Feeble-minded 
Children  to  Institution  for  Feeble-minded  Children, 
and  established  a  custodial  department  for  the  idiotic 
children  who  could  not  be  educated.343 

So  satisfactory  to  public  opinion  were  these  pro- 
visions that  no  further  agitation  of  the  subject  ap- 
peared in  the  history  of  Iowa  legislation  until  Gov- 
ernor Jackson,  in  his  biennial  message  of  January  14, 
1896,  voiced  the  growing  conviction  that  segregation 
was  of  greater  social  importance  for  this  class  of  de- 
fectives than  education,  and  recommended  that  the 
law  be  so  changed  as  to  admit  not  only  children  be- 
tween the  ages  of  five  and  eighteen  into  the  institu- 
tion, but  also  all  feeble-minded  persons  in  the 
State.34*  This  wise  suggestion,  however,  was  not 
adopted  by  the  legislature  until  a  much  later  day. 

The  Code  of  1897  contained  a  section  requiring  the 
county  superintendent  to  report  each  year  to  the  su- 
perintendent of  the  Institution  for  Feeble-minded 
Children  all  persons  of  school  age  who  because  of 
their  mental  defects  were  entitled  to  admission  to 
that  institution.345  This  was  an  effort  to  secure  the 
elimination  of  all  such  children  from  the  homes  of 
the  State  and  to  make  certain  that  they  would  receive 
an  education  in  an  institution  especially  adapted  to 
their  condition.  Their  support  was  provided  for  as 
before  —  by  the  parents  and  guardians  if  they  were 


238      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

able ;  if  not,  by  the  county  from  which  they  were  sent. 
The  age  limit  in  the  meantime  had  been  raised  from 
eighteen  to  twenty-one  years. 

The  recommendation  of  Governor  Jackson  was  re- 
peated by  the  Board  of  Control  in  its  first  biennial 
report  in  1899,346  and  these  recommendations  were  in 
part  adopted  by  the  Twenty-ninth  General  Assembly 
when,  in  an  act  approved  on  April  7, 1902,  it  provided 
that  all  feeble-minded  women  under  forty-six  years 
of  age  might  be  admitted  to  the  Institution  for  Fee- 
ble-minded Children  at  Glenwood.  They  were  to  be 
supported  there  on  the  same  basis  as  the  children. 
By  this  act  one  of  the  most  important  steps  was  taken 
in  the  custodial  care  of  a  most  dangerous  class  of  de- 
fectives so  far  as  the  future  welfare  of  the  race  is 
concerned.347 

The  Thirty-third  General  Assembly  seven  years 
later,  in  an  act  approved  on  March  29, 1909,  extended 
the  same  provisions  to  feeble-minded  men  under 
forty-six  years  of  age  who  were  residents  of  the 
State.348  One  further  step  was  taken  by  the  Thirty- 
fourth  General  Assembly  in  applying  negative  eu- 
genics to  the  feeble-minded  in  an  act  approved  on 
April  10,  1911,  which  provided  for  the  unsexing  by 
vasectomy  or  ligation  of  the  fallopian  tubes  of  feeble- 
minded persons  and  idiots  and  such  other  mental  de- 
fectives as  the  judgment  of  a  group  composed  of  the 
managing  officer  of  the  institution,  the  surgical  su- 
perintendent of  the  institution,  and  the  members  of 
the  State  Board  of  Control,  should  determine.349 


CARE  OF  DEFECTIVES  239 

The  last  General  Assembly  in  a  resolution  ap- 
proved on  April  25, 1913,  provided  for  a  special  hos- 
pital for  consumptives  at  the  Institution  for  Feeble- 
minded Children  and  a  special  cottage  for  girls.350 

Thus,  step  by  step  the  care  of  the  feeble-minded 
paupers  has  been  humanized  and  given  social  vision 
in  the  State  of  Iowa.  So  far  as  legislation  is  con- 
cerned there  need  not  be  a  single  feeble-minded  per- 
son in  a  poorhouse  in  Iowa  under  the  age  of  forty- 
six  years.  In  the  Institution  for  Feeble-minded 
Children  at  Glenwood,  provision  has  been  made  both 
for  the  education  of  those  who  are  educable  and 
for  the  custodial  care  of  the  incurable  up  to  the  age 
of  forty-six  years,  so  far  as  the  accommodations  pro- 
vided by  the  legislature  will  permit. 

Beginning  with  the  care  of  these  unfortunates  in 
the  poorhouses  of  Iowa,  provision  has  been  made 
whereby  society  shall  be  protected  from  their  irre- 
sponsible acts,  and  for  an  institution  where  they  may 
be  given  a  good  home  in  which  to  spend  their  days 
under  proper  care.  Moreover,  provision  has  been 
made  for  the  education  of  those  who  are  capable  of 
some  training ;  and  finally,  power  has  been  given  the 
authorities  to  try  out  asexualization  on  these  dere- 
licts of  humanity.  Only  one  further  thing  at  the 
present  time  needs  to  be  done  for  the  feeble-minded 
in  Iowa,  namely,  there  remains  need  for  much  more 
extended  provision  for  the  care  of  this  class  at  Glen- 
wood  so  that  those  who  are  still  at  large  in  the  State 
may  be  placed  there. 


240      POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

THE  INSANE 

The  Territorial  laws  of  Iowa  provided  for  the  care 
of  pauper  insane.  By  an  act  approved  on  January 
19,  1839,  all  insane  persons  who  had  no  property  for 
their  support  were  declared  to  be  entitled  to  all  the 
benefits  of  the  laws  of  the  Territory  for  the  relief  of 
the  poor.  Overseers  of  the  poor  and  all  other  per- 
sons concerned  were  directed  to  govern  themselves 
accordingly.851 

The  act  approved  on  January  14,  1841,  contained 
practically  the  same  provisions  as  were  later  em- 
bodied in  the  Code  of  1851.  Section  twenty-five  of 
the  Territorial  act,  however,  provided  that  all  the 
expenses  for  caring  for  an  insane  person  and  for  the 
management  of  his  estates  by  a  guardian  appointed 
by  the  court  were  to  be  paid  out  of  his  estate,  if  pos- 
sible, and  if  not,  out  of  the  county  treasury.  In  case 
his  estate  was  not  sufficient  to  provide  for  his  sup- 
port he  was  entitled  to  be  cared  for  by  the  overseers 
of  the  poor  as  other  paupers.  Like  other  paupers, 
his  father  and  mother,  children,  grandchildren,  or 
grandparents,  if  of  sufficient  ability,  were  required 
to  support  him.352  This  law  governed  the  support  of 
indigent  insane  persons  until  the  enactment  of  the 
Code  of  1851.  There  is  no  provision  in  this  Code 
under  the  sections  dealing  with  insanity  for  the  care 
of  indigent  insane.  This  was  provided  for  under  a 
separate  section  in  the  Revision  of  I860.353  In  these 
Codes,  however,  practically  the  only  change  was  that 
the  county  court  as  a  court  of  probate  was  invested 


CARE  OF  DEFECTIVES  241 

with  the  power  to  appoint  guardians  and  provide 
care  for  the  insane  person. 

Very  early  in  the  history  of  the  State  agitation  be- 
gan for  the  establishment  of  special  institutions  for 
the  care  of  the  insane.  Governor  Stephen  Hemp- 
stead,  in  his  second  biennial  message  under  date  of 
December  8,  1854,  urged  the  establishment  and  en- 
dowment of  an  asylum  for  lunatics.  He  advanced  in 
favor  of  this  recommendation  the  fact  that  there 
were  numbers  of  these  unfortunates  in  the  State  who 
had  to  be  removed  by  their  friends  to  other  States 
for  treatment  or  else  confined  in  the  county  jails  and 
poorhouses.354  Governor  Grimes,  in  a  special  mes- 
sage of  December  22,  1854,  in  reply  to  a  resolution 
of  the  Senate  calling  upon  him  for  information  rela- 
tive to  the  deaf,  blind,  dumb,  and  insane  in  the  State, 
estimated  that  there  were  about  130  deaf  and  dumb, 
112  blind  persons,  95  lunatics,  and  211  idiots,  or  if 
one-half  the  idiots  were  classed  as  insane,  then  201 
insane.  He  said  that  a  large  majority  of  these  luna- 
tics were  either  wholly  uncared  for  or  confined  in 
loathsome  county  jails  with  felons  and  outlaws. 

Furthermore,  Governor  Grimes  quoted  from  a  let- 
ter of  Professor  McGugin,  who  stated  that  he  found 
many  of  these  unfortunates  confined  in  jails  and 
there  incarcerated  in  felons '  cells,  not  because  of  any 
crime,  but  because  they  had  lost  their  reason  and 
self-control.  Among  these  were  some  who  had  been 
among  the  most  respectable,  moral,  and  intelligent 
citizens.  Many  of  them,  he  said,  were  women. 


242      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

Others  were  confined  in  small  tenements  or  apart- 
ments poorly  warmed  or  ventilated,  where  they  were 
kept  confined  without  hope  of  recovery.  On  the  basis 
of  these  facts  Governor  Grimes  urged  that  the  legis- 
lature appoint  commissioners  to  visit  asylums  in 
other  States  and  obtain  plans  for  buildings  for  a 
State  institution.855 

As  a  result  of  the  urgency  of  the  situation  thus 
brought  to  the  attention  of  the  legislature,  by  an  act 
of  January  24,  1855,  there  was  established  the  State 
Insane  Asylum  at  Mt.  Pleasant,  Iowa.  This  institu- 
tion was  the  only  one  in  the  State  of  Iowa  for  the 
next  thirteen  years.366  So  inadequate  gradually  be- 
came the  provisions  in  this  institution  for  the  ac- 
commodation of  all  the  insane  in  the  State,  that  the 
Seventh  General  Assembly  authorized  each  county 
judge  to  allow  the  sum  of  fifty  dollars  a  year  out  of 
the  county  treasury  for  the  support  of  any  idiot  or 
lunatic  resident  in  any  county  who  was  not  sup- 
ported by  the  county  in  the  jail  or  poorhouse.857  This 
provision  probably  referred  to  lunatics  who  were  not 
admissible  to  the  State  Insane  Asylum  because  they 
were  considered  incurable  or  who  had  been  dismissed 
as  incurable.  The  same  act  provided  that  any  insane 
persons  who  under  the  law  could  not  be  admitted  to 
the  hospital  for  the  insane  for  any  cause,  should  be 
committed  by  the  probate  judge  to  the  sheriff  or 
someone  else  who  should  take  charge  of  him  until  the 
impediment  to  his  admission  to  the  State  Hospital 
was  removed.  If  necessary,  such  person  could  be 
confined  in  the  county  poorhouse  or  jail.  Any  neces- 


CARE  OF  DEFECTIVES  243 

sities  were  to  be  supplied  by  the  county  if  the  person 
was  poor.  Furthermore,  it  was  provided  that  while 
such  a  person  could  be  confined  in  a  jail  he  was  not  to 
be  confined  with  a  person  charged  with  a  crime. 
And  finally,  indigent  insane  were  to  have  the  prefer- 
ence as  a  charge  upon  the  county  treasury  over  other 
indigent  persons  equally  meritorious.358 

In  the  Revision  of  1860  the  provisions  relative  to 
vagrancy  were  made  to  apply  to  insane  persons  not 
in  charge  of  some  discreet  person,  except  that  the  re- 
straint to  which  they  were  to  be  subjected  was  or- 
dered to  be  as  mild  and  gentle  as  possible.  This  Code 
contemplated,  however,  that  if  there  wTas  some  friend 
to  whom  an  indigent  insane  person  could  be  commit- 
ted, that  should  be  the  procedure.  In  case  this  could 
not  be  done,  the  same  provisions  as  were  found  in  the 
acts  of  the  Seventh  General  Assembly  already  re- 
ferred to,  were  to  operate.  In  general,  pauper  luna- 
tics discharged  from  the  hospital,  or  who  were  not 
admissable  thereto,  were  to  be  cared  for  in  the  same 
manner  as  other  poor.859 

The  Revision  of  1860  also  incorporated  the  act  of 
March  23, 1858,  providing  for  the  admission  into  the 
State  Asylum  of  public  patients,  supported  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  county,  on  the  written  certificate  of  the 
county  judge  where  such  patient  lived,  and  author- 
ized the  superintendent  to  receive  and  care  for  such 
persons  at  the  expense  of  the  county.  The  expense 
was  charged  back  to  each  county  by  the  insane  asy- 
lum, and  the  county  clerks  were  authorized  to  collect 
such  expense  from  the  property  of  the  patients  or 


244      POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

from  such  persons  as  were  legally  bound  to  support 
them,  if  possible.860  In  actual  administration  this 
plan  worked  no  better  in  the  case  of  the  insane  than 
it  did  in  that  of  the  feeble-minded.  And  so,  Gov- 
ernor Kirkwood  in  January,  1862,  recommended  that 
the  law  be  so  changed  that  the  counties  should  pay  in 
advance  for  the  support  of  their  insane  in  the  State 
Hospital.361 

The  practice  from  this  time  on  vacillated  between 
caring  for  all  cases  of  the  insane  in  State  institu- 
tions, caring  for  incurables  or  those  not  admissible 
to  the  State  Hospital  by  the  county,  and  later  the 
care  of  them  by  the  county  in  a  county  institution  for 
the  insane. 

Governor  Kirkwood  in  his  message  in  1862  also 
urged  the  legislature  to  appropriate  money  with 
which  to  furnish  a  wing  of  the  Hospital  for  the  In- 
sane. He  referred  to  the  misery,  the  degradation, 
and  the  hopelessness  of  cure  in  the  cases  of  insane 
persons  who  were  confined  in  cells  in  the  county 
jails.362  The  growing  task,  however,  was  too  great 
for  the  State,  especially  under  the  heavy  expense  in- 
cidental to  the  Civil  War,  and  so  an  attempt  was 
made  by  legislative  enactment  to  make  the  county 
officers  more  conscious  of  their  responsibility  for  the 
proper  care  of  the  indigent  insane.868 

So  great  was  the  pressure  upon  the  State  institu- 
tion for  the  insane  that  Superintendent  Ranney  in 
his  report  to  the  Governor  on  November  1, 1867,  said 
that  the  asylum  or  hospital,  as  it  was  now  called,  at 
Mt.  Pleasant  was  already  filled  to  overflowing  and 


CARE  OF  DEFECTIVES  245 

that  chronic  public  cases  must  not  be  sent  to  that  in- 
stitution unless  the  superintendent  first  ordered  it. 
The  superintendent,  however,  turned  no  such  cases 
away,  with  the  result  that  the  pressure  became  so 
great  under  this  humane  policy  that  on  April  6, 1868 
there  was  approved  a  law  by  which  another  hospital 
for  the  insane  was  established  at  Independence.364 
Even  this  however,  did  not  relieve  the  situation  due 
to  the  increased  number  of  insane  persons  and  the 
growing  consciousness  of  need  for  institutional  care. 
An  act  approved  on  April  12,  1870,  therefore,  pro- 
vided that  public  insane  patients  who  could  not  be 
admitted  to  the  Hospital  for  the  Insane  on  account 
of  lack  of  room  or  other  reasons,  should  be  cared  for 
by  the  directors  of  the  poorhouse  or  the  overseers  of 
the  poor  at  the  expense  of  the  county.  In  case  there 
was  no  poorhouse  and  if  no  more  suitable  place  could 
be  found,  they  were  to  be  confined  in  the  county  jail 
in  charge  of  the  sheriff.365  Thus  once  more  the  grow- 
ing sense  of  need  and  the  economic  motive  conspired 
to  thrust  back  into  the  poorhouses  and  jails  those 
whose  only  defect  was  mental  unsoundness.  This 
provision  was  incorporated  in  the  Code  of  1873. 
Moreover,  this  Code  gave  the  trustees  of  the  State 
Hospitals  for  the  Insane  the  right  to  send  insane 
patients  back  to  the  counties.366 

After  the  close  of  the  war  agitation  commenced 
against  the  care  of  indigent  insane  in  the  poorhouses. 
Dr.  Mark  Banney,  superintendent  of  the  Hospital  for 
the  Insane  at  Mt.  Pleasant,  in  his  report  to  the  board 
of  trustees  in  1871,  reported  that  many  of  those 


246      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

whom  he  could  not  receive  into  his  institution  for 
lack  of  room  were  kept  in  jails  and  in  such  poor- 
houses  as  existed  at  that  time.867  Attention  was  di- 
rected to  this  matter  also  by  the  report  of  the  Visit- 
ing Committee  to  the  Governor  in  1875.  This  com- 
mittee reported  that  in  response  to  a  circular  letter 
sent  to  the  authorities  in  every  county  in  Iowa  dur- 
ing January,  February,  and  March,  1875,  they  re- 
ceived reports  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  insane 
persons  kept  in  various  poorhouses  in  Iowa  under 
the  local  care  of  the  county  authorities.  A  large  pro- 
portion were  women  and  all  of  these  were  indigent 
insane.  The  committee  urged  that  provisions  should 
be  made  for  caring  for  all  the  unfortunates  of  this 
class  and  particularly  for  the  pauper  insane,  with 
suitable  and  special  accommodations  under  the  con- 
trol of  officials  directly  responsible  to  the  State.  On 
this  point  the  committee  said : 

The  experiences  of  all  communities,  and  the  results  of 
the  special  inspections  of  the  poor-houses  in  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania,  demonstrate  that  the  retention  in  such  places, 
of  cases  of  insanity  and  idiocy,  is  not  only  a  gross  violation 
of  the  commonest  sentiments  of  humanity,  but  that  such 
disposition,  especially  as  to  females,  inevitably  and  invar- 
iably leads  to  results  alike  opposed  to  public  morality  and 
public  safety. 

The  committee  added  that  in  one  of  the  county 
poorhouses  in  Iowa  a  few  years  before  an  investiga- 
tion into  conditions  and  discipline,  especially  as  to 
the  relations  between  the  ordinary  male  paupers  and 
the  insane  females,  resulted  in  such  shocking  dis- 


CARE  OF  DEFECTIVES  247 

closures  that  the  county  authorities  immediately  es- 
tablished the  rule  that  no  cases  of  insanity  should 
thenceforth  be  placed  in  their  poorhouse.  The  Visit- 
ing Committee  urged  that  a  similar  rule  should  by 
legislative  enactment  be  established  for  all  the  poor- 
houses  throughout  the  State.  Furthermore,  it  urged 
that  pending  the  completion  of  State  hospitals  con- 
taining accommodations  for  all  of  the  insane  of 
Iowa,  there  should  be  a  statutory  provision  for  con- 
stant general  supervision  by  State  officials  of  all  the 
county  institutions  of  detention,  particularly  includ- 
ing jails,  poorhouses,  and  public  and  private  hos- 
pitals in  which  the  counties  may  have  provided  for 
the  care  of  insane  claimants  upon  their  care.368  Un- 
fortunately it  was  not  until  a  much  later  date  that 
these  sensible  recommendations  were  written  into 
the  statutes. 

The  pressure  became  so  great  in  the  State  hos- 
pitals, in  spite  of  the  exclusion  of  some  persons  who 
should  have  been  in  those  institutions,  that  the  trus- 
tees in  June,  1878,  felt  constrained  to  take  other 
measures  possible  under  the  laws  to  relieve  the  situ- 
ation. They  took  advantage  of  section  1425  of  the 
Code  which  permitted  them  to  order  the  discharge 
from  the  asylum  of  incurables  and  harmless  pa- 
tients.369 This  procedure  only  made  the  already  bad 
situation  in  the  county  poorhouses  very  much  worse. 
At  that  time  but  two  counties  were  prepared  to  take 
care  of  the  insane,  and  the  return  of  these  cases  in 
most  instances,  if  the  statements  of  the  State  Board 
of  Control  written  twenty  years  later  may  be  be- 


248      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

lieved,  were  carried  out  against  the  expressed  wish 
of  the  county  authorities. 

The  effect  of  this  order  was  to  force  many  counties 
to  erect  county  asylums  and  others  to  take  care  of 
these  incurable  and  harmless  insane  in  the  poor- 
houses.  In  1899  more  than  twenty  counties  had  pro- 
vided county  asylums.  The  policy  of  keeping  down 
the  numbers  in  the  State  asylums  to  manageable 
proportions  was  continued  until  the  time  of  the  open- 
ing of  the  third  State  Hospital  for  the  Insane  at 
Clarinda.  By  that  time  the  counties  had  become  ac- 
customed to  thus  caring  for  their  incurable  insane 
and  wished  to  continue  to  do  so.  When  the  Board  of 
Control  made  its  first  report  in  1899  the  county  com- 
missioners of  the  insane  had  come  to  the  opinion  that 
they  were  authorized  to  order  the  discharge  of  any 
inmate  of  the  State  hospitals  coming  from  their 
counties  and  have  them  returned  to  the  counties  at 
such  time  as  they  thought  best  —  a  theory  which  the 
new  Board  of  Control  hastened  to  upset  as  vicious 
in  its  tendencies.370 

After  the  wholesale  delivery  of  insane  patients 
from  the  State  to  the  county  institutions  had  been 
effected  in  1878,  the  Visiting  Committee  to  the  State 
Insane  Hospitals  made  an  inquiry  to  find  out  the 
numbers  of  insane  in  the  county  institutions  and  the 
conditions  surrounding  them.  They  reported  that 
out  of  eighty-five  counties  replying  to  their  inquiry, 
forty -nine  reported  three  hundred  and  thirty-five  pa- 
tients; while  thirty-six  retained  no  insane  patients 
within  the  county.  Only  three  or  four  counties  re- 


CARE  OF  DEFECTIVES  249 

ported  that  they  had  suitable  arrangements  for  the 
care  of  these  patients :  in  most  cases  they  were  kept 
in  the  county  poorhouse.  Of  the  forty-nine  counties 
twenty-four  reported  that  they  preferred  to  keep  the 
insane  in  their  own  county  rather  than  in  the  State 
institutions,  and  in  every  case  their  preference  was 
based  solely  upon  the  ground  of  economy.  The  high- 
est cost  reported  by  these  counties  for  the  care  of  the 
indigent  insane  was  reported  at  seven  dollars,  the 
lowest  at  sixty-six  cents,  and  the  average  at  two  dol- 
lars and  a  half  per  week. 

The  committee  declared  that  in  their  opinion  it 
was  for  the  best  interests  of  all  that  the  State  should 
provide  at  once  for  the  accommodation  of  this  class 
of  the  insane.371 

These  recommendations  were  without  legislative 
results,  however,  and  for  more  than  ten  years  noth- 
ing more  was  heard  upon  the  subject.  Governor 
Larrabee,  in  his  second  biennial  message  (1890)  re- 
ported that  he  had  appointed  Mr.  J.  W.  Rich  to  make 
an  investigation  of  all  the  State  charitable  and  cor- 
rectional institutions,  except  the  penitentiaries.  Mr. 
Rich's  examination  of  the  jails,  poorhouses,  and 
county  asylums  for  the  insane  showed  in  general  that 
many  of  the  jails  were  damp,  ill-ventilated,  and  de- 
fective in  construction;  and  that  there  was  great 
need  for  improvement  in  these  institutions  as  well  as 
in  the  county  asylums  for  the  insane. 

Mr.  Rich  visited  seventeen  counties  in  various 
parts  of  the  State.  Two  of  these,  both  in  the  western 
part,  had  neither  poorhouse  nor  asylum  for  the  in- 


250      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

sane.  Only  one  of  the  counties  visited,  namely,  Polk 
County,  had  special  attendants  for  the  care  of  the  in- 
sane. In  five  of  the  seventeen  counties  visited  there 
was  no  separation  of  the  sane  and  insane  paupers. 
He  found  the  strong  room,  the  dark  room,  the  ball 
and  chain,  and  locks  and  chains  used  in  restraining 
the  insane.  In  these  seventeen  counties  he  found 
three  hundred  and  four  insane  persons  provided  for. 
Three  of  the  counties  made  provision  for  those  of 
their  insane  who  were  not  in  the  State  hospitals  in 
private  institutions.  Mr.  Rich  estimated  that  there 
were  thirteen  hundred  and  fifty  insane  persons  in 
the  various  county  poorhouses  and  asylums ;  and  he 
noted  the  fact  that  those  in  the  county  institutions 
were  supposed  to  be  incurable  and  that  many  of  them 
became  unmanageable  and  had  to  be  restrained  by 
force.  Furthermore,  nearly  ninety  per  cent  of  the 
insane  within  the  walls  of  the  State  asylums  were 
also  incurable.  This  latter  fact  he  used  as  a  basis 
for  the  argument  that  the  State  was  bound  to  make 
provision  for  the  one  class  of  incurables  as  well  as 
for  the  other.  This  investigation  convinced  Mr.  Rich 
that  the  State  should  care  for  all  its  insane  in  State 
institutions.  If  that  could  not  be  done,  then  the 
various  county  asylums  should  be  consolidated  into 
district  asylums.  He  concluded  that  the  county  sys- 
tem might  be  economical  as  it  was  then  administered, 
but  that  was  its  only  recommendation,  for  it  was  not 
humane.872 

The  Code  of  1897  retained  the  provisions  of  the 
Code  of  1873 .373    Gradually,  however,  there  was  be- 


CAEE  OF  DEFECTIVES  251 

gun  the  practice  of  separating  the  insane  inmates  of 
the  poorhouse  from  the  other  paupers.  This  prac- 
tice was  begun  in  Scott  County  during  the  early  sev- 
enties, as  a  result  of  the  unfortunate  experiences  al- 
ready referred  to.87*  But  in  spite  of  this  tendency 
the  Board  of  Control  in  its  second  biennial  report 
(1901)  stated  that  it  found  in  the  first  half  of  that 
year  seventy  insane  persons  in  poorhouses  who  had 
not  been  adjudged  insane.375  It  was  cheaper  to  sup- 
port these  persons  in  the  poorhouse  than  in  a  State 
institution. 

Moreover  the  Board  found  other  conditions  in  the 
county  institutions  that  were  anything  but  good.  In 
its  first  biennial  report  in  1899  the  Board  declared 
that  the  State  permitted  various  county  and  four 
private  institutions  to  retain  insane  patients,  and 
that  about  all  that  the  county  asylums  and  poor 
farms  could  do  for  the  insane  was  to  clothe  and  feed 
them.  Some  of  the  insane  were  shut  up  all  of  the 
time  and  never  saw  the  light  of  day  except  as  they 
observed  the  sky  over  the  top  of  a  high  board  fence 
surrounding  their  pen  or  looked  out  through  the  win- 
dows of  the  rooms  in  which  they  were  confined. 
Many  were  compelled  to  sleep  at  night  in  dirty,  dingy 
cells  without  ventilation,  without  anyone  to  look  after 
them  during  the  night;  and  hundreds,  it  was  re- 
ported, were  in  constant  peril  of  their  lives  from  fire 
because  of  want  of  proper  care  and  protection.  They 
found  women,  sometimes  at  night  and  often  in  the 
day  time,  shut  up  in  charge  of  a  man  who  was  sup- 
posed to  look  after  them  when  their  condition  was 


252      POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

such  as  to  demand  attention.  Furthermore,  many 
were  confined  in  these  institutions  who,  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  they  were  supposed  to  be  harmless  and 
incurable,  were  claimed  to  be  so  violent  that  they 
were  kept  in  constant  mechanical  constraint  or 
locked  up  in  their  cells. 

In  the  four  private  asylums  the  Board  found  four 
hundred  patients,  about  half  of  whom  were  sent 
there  by  the  various  counties  of  the  State  which  had 
no  means  of  caring  for  the  insane.  These  institu- 
tions were  under  no  regular  supervision  or  control. 
Moreover,  in  the  county  institutions  examined  they 
found  women  inmates  who  had  no  attendant  or  night 
watch  of  their  own  sex,  save  as  some  attention  could 
be  given  to  them  by  the  wife  or  daughters  of  the 
steward,  and  sometimes  even  this  was  lacking.  In 
other  cases  they  found  women  inmates  locked  up  day 
and  night  in  a  building  for  the  care  of  the  insane 
with  no  sane  person  staying  in  the  building  day  or 
night,  the  only  attendant  being  a  man  who  slept  out- 
side the  building  and  cared  for  them  in  the  day  time. 
At  several  institutions  insane  women  and  pauper 
men  had  ample  opportunity  to  be  together  if  they 
wished.  In  spite  of  the  provisions  of  the  Code  to  the 
effect  that  women  when  adjudged  insane  were  not  to 
be  taken  to  the  State  hospital  without  the  attendance 
of  some  other  woman  or  some  relative,  and  that  they 
were  not  to  be  placed  in  confinement  without  at  least 
one  woman  attendant  in  charge  of  them  —  in  spite 
of  these  provisions  men  attendants  cared  for  the  in- 


CARE  OF  DEFECTIVES  253 

sane  women  patients  in  some  of  the  county  asylums 
and  carried  the  key  to  their  apartments. 

Moreover,  in  many  county  asylums  the  Board  re- 
ported that  more  than  one  patient  was  bathed  in  the 
same  water  —  in  some  cases  four.  In  one  of  the 
largest  as  well  as  one  of  the  best  of  these  institu- 
tions the  steward,  when  questioned  concerning  this 
practice,  expressed  himself  as  considering  it  all  right 
and  he  could  see  no  reason  for  changing  the  custom. 
If  such  things  were  tolerated  in  the  best  of  these  in- 
stitutions, asked  the  Board,  what  might  be  expected 
in  the  smaller  and  poorer  ones  where  all  the  water 
for  bathing  had  to  be  carried  considerable  distances. 
In  only  one  of  the  institutions  examined  did  they 
find  a  nurse  regularly  employed ;  in  none  of  them  was 
a  night  attendant  employed.  In  one  case  two  men 
were  found  chained  to  the  wall  inside  of  the  build- 
ing, and  in  one  three  women  were  shut  up  in  a  room 
too  foul  and  filthy  to  be  described.  Several  instances 
were  found  where  insane  men  and  women  associated 
and  ate  with  the  paupers.  In  some  institutions  men 
and  women  were  kept  in  dark,  ill-ventilated,  damp, 
and  disease-breeding  basements.  In  none  of  the 
counties  visited  did  the  Board  find  the  patients  re- 
ceiving any  attention  from  the  time  they  were  locked 
up  at  night  until  morning,  unless  they  were  sick  or 
unless  attention  was  attracted  to  them  by  some  un- 
usual noise.  In  several  cases  there  was  no  regular 
medical  service,  and  in  most  institutions  there  were 
no  religious  services,  no  amusements,  and  in  nearly 


254      POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

all  cases  there  was  a  lack  of  sufficient  exercise  for  the 
patients. 

As  a  result  of  these  conditions,  the  Board  recom- 
mended that  no  county  not  having  an  insane  asylum 
should  thereafter  be  permitted  to  keep  insane  pa- 
tients; that  all  private  and  county  institutions  for 
the  care  of  the  insane  be  placed  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  Board  of  Control;  and  that  no  such  in- 
stitutions be  permitted  to  keep  insane  patients  with- 
out complying  with  the  requirements  of  the  Board. 
They  further  recommended  that  the  Board  be  made 
the  judge  as  to  whether  in  any  case  a  patient  was  in 
such  a  condition  as  to  warrant  his  removal  from  or 
his  retention  in  a  county  asylum ;  that  the  Board  be 
given  the  power  to  order  a  transfer  of  the  patients 
from  a  county  asylum  to  a  State  hospital,  or  from 
the  hospital  to  the  county  asylum  at  the  expense  of 
the  county  concerned;  and  that  no  patient  be  dis- 
charged from  a  State  hospital  on  the  application  or 
order  of  any  person  or  board  unless  first  approved 
by  the  Board  of  Control.376 

These  recommendations  have  not  as  yet,  however, 
been  written  into  the  statutes  of  the  State.  The  last 
legislation  on  this  subject  was  the  provision  for  a 
special  room  for  the  detention  and  examination  of 
the  insane  in  the  county  hospital,  enacted  by  the 
Thirty-third  General  Assembly  and  approved  on 
April  6, 1909.  Curiously  enough,  this  provision  was 
made  obligatory  only  in  case  the  hospital  was  located 
at  the  county  seat.877 


CARE  OF  DEFECTIVES  255 

Thus  at  the  present  time  the  system  of  caring  for 
the  indigent  insane  in  Iowa  is  rather  complicated. 
Those  whom  the  insanity  commissioners  deem  cur- 
able are  supposed  to  be  sent  to  one  of  the  State  Hos- 
pitals for  the  Insane  at  the  expense  of  the  county. 
The  fact,  however,  that  in  six  months  time  the 
Board  of  Control  found  seventy-two  persons  in  poor- 
houses  who  were  insane,  but  had  not  been  adjudged 
so,  would  indicate  that  the  intent  of  the  law  is  some- 
times evaded.  Those  cases  which  are  pronounced 
chronic  by  the  authorities  at  the  Hospital  for  the 
Insane  are  sent  back  to  the  county  poorhouses  for 
support.  Gradually  there  has  grown  up  the  practice 
of  segregating  the  pauper  insane  from  other  paupers 
by  placing  them  in  a  special  ward  devoted  to  the  in- 
sane. In  more  than  half  of  the  counties  this  has  gone 
to  the  extent  of  providing  a  separate  institution  for 
the  insane  paupers.378  At  the  present  time  they  may 
still  be  retained  in  jails,  but  if  kept  in  poorhouses 
their  care  is  subject  to  oversight  by  the  State  Board 
of  Control.  If  history  has  shown  anything  it  has 
shown  the  necessity  for  a  closer  State  supervision  of 
the  care  of  this  unfortunate  class  of  paupers. 

Out  of  the  reaction  against  the  abuses  in  connec- 
tion with  the  care  of  insane  in  the  poorhouses  of 
Iowa  two  suggestions  were  born.  One  proposed  that 
the  State  should  build  an  asylum  for  the  care  of  the 
chronic  insane.  The  enormous  expense  of  such  hos- 
pitals as  the  State  had  already  built  had  been  dem- 


256      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

onstrated.  Moreover,  it  was  beginning  to  appear 
that  the  chronic  insane  did  not  need  the  same  kind  of 
care  as  those  who  gave  promise  of  cure.  The  Visit- 
ing Committee  in  its  report  to  the  Governor  in  1875 
recommended  that  the  State  build  cheaper  asylums 
for  the  chronic  insane,  leaving  the  expensive  hos- 
pitals for  the  treatment  of  the  incipient  and  hopeful 
cases.379  In  line  with  this  suggestion  Governor  Car- 
penter, in  his  second  biennial  message,  suggested 
that  the  discontinued  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home  at 
Glenwood  be  used  for  the  chronic  insane,  thus  reliev- 
ing the  crowded  condition  in  the  insane  hospitals  and 
providing  State  care  for  the  large  class  of  unfor- 
tunates who  were  then  being  cared  for  in  the  poor- 
houses  and  sometimes  in  county  jails.380 

The  recommendation  for  an  asylum  for  incurable 
insane  was  repeated  by  Governor  Gear  in  his  first 
biennial  message  in  January,  1880.  He  called  atten- 
tion to  the  report  of  the  Visiting  Committee  in  which 
this  policy  had  been  recommended.  In  support  of 
his  recommendation  he  urged  the  fact  that  the  re- 
turns from  ninety-six  counties  showed  that  there 
were  in  jails,  poorhouses,  and  county  asylums,  three 
hundred  and  sixty-eight  insane  persons  maintained 
at  county  expense.  The  presumption,  he  argued, 
was  that  a  large  number  of  these  persons  were  in- 
curable; but  from  the  very  nature  of  things  they 
could  not  receive  as  good  care  in  these  institutions 
as  they  could  in  a  well-ordered  State  asylum.  He 
cited  the  example  of  a  number  of  eastern  Common- 
wealths to  show  that  such  an  asylum  would  be  much 


CARE  OF  DEFECTIVES  257 

cheaper  than  the  existing  county  hospitals  in  Iowa.381 
In  1882  Governor  Gear  repeated  the  same  recom- 
mendation, urging  that  a  large  asylum  be  erected 
somewhere  near  the  center  of  the  State  to  care  for 
those  who  were  incurable,  whether  found  in  the  State 
hospitals  or  in  the  county  institutions.882 

Gear's  successor,  Governor  Sherman,  took  prac- 
tically the  same  ground.  Moreover,  in  his  first  bi- 
ennial message  two  years  later,  he  stated  that  on  the 
first  of  the  previous  November  there  had  been  re- 
ported to  him  five  hundred  and  nineteen  insane  per- 
sons in  county  almshouses,  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  in  private  asylums,  fifty-eight  in  the  homes  of 
relatives,  and  fifteen  in  county  jails.888 

Unfortunately,  these  recommendations  have  never 
been  followed  up  by  the  necessary  legislation.  The 
specific  recommendation  that  the  institution  at  Glen- 
wood  should  be  turned  over  for  the  use  of  the  insane 
was  made  impossible  by  its  being  transformed  into 
a  school  for  the  feeble-minded.  The  building  of  a 
special  institution  would  mean  the  putting  of  money 
into  another  State  institution  which  would  require  a 
considerable  sum.  Moreover,  since  there  was  to  be 
only  one  such  institution  there  would  be  difficulty  in 
determining  where  it  should  be  located. 

Those  who  had  made  a  special  study  of  the  situa- 
tion in  the  State  and  had  also  looked  into  the  practice 
of  the  older  Commonwealths  of  the  East  were  doubt- 
less right  in  their  recommendations.  The  care  of  the 
chronic  insane  will  never  be  properly  performed 
when  supervised  by  county  authorities.  The  only 


258      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

other  alternative  is  the  one  which  was  adopted  later 
in  Iowa,  namely,  the  plan  of  putting  the  insane  in  the 
county  poorhouses  and  asylums  under  the  control  of 
some  State  body  like  the  Board  of  Control.  This 
plan,  while  it  has  worked  very  much  better  than  the 
earlier  system,  still  leaves  much  to  be  desired,  as  the 
Board  itself  has  frequently  pointed  out  in  its  reports. 

The  other  movement  which  grew  out  of  the  reac- 
tion against  keeping  the  insane  in  the  poorhouses 
and  jails  was  a  movement  for  the  establishment  of 
county  asylums  for  the  chronic  insane.  Governor 
Jackson  in  his  biennial  message  on  January  14, 1896, 
referred  to  the  fact  that  the  State  was  then  keeping 
eight  hundred  and  sixty-two  insane  in  the  county 
poorhouses  and  in  county  and  private  asylums.  He 
urged  that  they  could  all  be  kept  in  one  institution 
at  but  little  greater  expense;  and  he  characterized 
the  institution  method  as  just  and  humane,  while  he 
considered  the  care  of  insane  by  counties  unworthy 
of  a  great  State.384 

The  legislature,  however,  did  not  agree  with  the 
Governor.  The  Code  of  1897  made  no  provision  for 
such  an  institution.  It  did,  however,  contain  a  new 
section  providing  for  a  county  insane  fund,  in  ac- 
cordance with  which  the  supervisors  were  to  include 
a  tax  of  one-half  a  mill  or  less  in  the  regular  county 
levies  for  the  purpose  of  raising  a  fund  for  the  sup- 
port of  such  insane  persons  as  were  cared  for  and 
supported  by  the  county  in  the  insane  ward  of  the 
poorhouse  or  elsewhere  outside  the  State  hospital.385 
Evidently  the  purpose  was  to  provide  more  adequate 


CARE  OF  DEFECTIVES  259 

support  for  the  care  of  the  insane  in  the  county  in- 
stitutions which  had  grown  up. 

In  his  biennial  message  of  January  11,  1898,  Gov- 
ernor Drake  remarked  with  disfavor  upon  the  then 
recent  tendency  to  care  for  the  incurable  insane  in 
county  asylums  or  insane  wards  of  the  poorhouses. 
He  argued  that  the  patients  were  not  so  likely  to 
have  expert  care  and  treatment  as  they  would  have 
in  a  State  institution ;  and  he  thought  that  the  tend- 
ency ought  to  be  discouraged.386  But  the  Governor 
was  fighting  a  losing  battle,  for  already  too  many  of 
the  counties  were  taking  care  of  their  pauper  insane 
in  this  fashion  to  be  willing  readily  to  give  up  the 
plan. 

The  legislature  endeavored  to  make  some  amends 
when,  two  years  after  the  establishment  of  the  Board 
of  Control,  it  gave  that  Board  supervision  over  the 
county  and  private  institutions  where  insane  were 
kept.  Moreover,  the  Board  of  Control,  after  its  es- 
tablishment in  1898,  has  frequently  urged  State  care 
of  the  insane.  In  its  second  biennial  report  in  1901 
the  Board  said  that  while  in  many  counties,  even 
before  the  creation  of  the  Board,  the  insane  were 
supplied  with  kind  and  skillful  attendants,  good 
food,  and  sufficient  clothing  and  were  given  all  the 
care  which  could  reasonably  be  demanded,  in  several 
counties  they  were  treated  with  less  consideration 
than  the  farmer  gave  his  stock.  Little  or  no  atten- 
tion was  paid  in  such  counties  to  the  cleanliness  and 
personal  habits  of  the  inmates ;  they  were  seldom  if 
ever  bathed,  and  as  many  as  six  were  sometimes 


260      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

bathed  in  the  same  water.  The  Board  mentioned 
one  case  where  a  young  man  was  given  charge  of  six 
insane  women,  and  other  cases  where  men  had  unob- 
structed access  to  the  rooms  of  women. 

Again,  in  its  report  of  1903  the  Board  of  Control 
declared  that  in  few,  if  any,  of  the  county  and  private 
institutions  were  the  insane  so  well  cared  for  as  they 
would  be  in  State  hospitals,  and  urged  that  this  fact 
should  be  sufficient  to  prevent  the  construction  of 
new  county  institutions  for  the  insane  and  a  strong 
argument  in  favor  of  closing  those  already  in  exist- 
ence. This,  moreover,  was  their  opinion,  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  two  years  before  they  had  reported  that 
State  inspection  and  regulation  of  these  institutions 
had  resulted  in  the  improvement  of  some  and  the 
closing  of  others.  In  all  the  smaller  institutions  the 
insane  were  treated  in  practically  the  same  manner 
as  the  paupers,  although  the  law  contemplated  that 
they  should  receive  different  treatment  and  in  sepa- 
rate apartments.887 

The  last  General  Assembly,  in  an  act  approved  on 
March  25,  1913,  expressed  the  growing  sense  of  im- 
patience with  the  county  care  of  the  pauper  insane 
by  providing  that  no  patient  whose  relative  or  guard- 
ian pays  the  expenses  of  his  keep  in  the  State  Hos- 
pital for  the  Insane  should  be  transferred  to  the 
county  asylum  except  with  the  written  consent  of 
such  relative  or  guardian.  It  further  provided  that 
a  patient  who  is  kept  at  the  State  Hospital  for  the 
Insane  may  be  transferred  to  the  county  institution 
only  on  the  joint  written  request  of  the  board  of 


CARE  OF  DEFECTIVES  261 

supervisors,  or  the  commission  on  insanity  of  the 
county  to  which  the  patient  belonged,  and  the  Board 
of  Control.388  By  this  act  the  Board  of  Control  is 
given  coordinate  authority  with  the  county  officials 
in  transferring  pauper  insane  to  the  county  insti- 
tutions. 

It  may  seem  strange  to  one  who  is  not  acquainted 
with  the  force  of  economic  motives  in  these  matters 
that  such  primitive  methods  as  are  still  in  vogue 
should  have  continued  in  spite  of  the  agitation  of  the 
last  forty  years  and  the  recommendations  of  visiting 
committees,  Governors,  and  the  Board  of  Control. 
When,  however,  the  question  of  the  support  of  the 
pauper  insane  arises  and  the  legislative  history  of 
that  support  is  examined  one  can  easily  understand 
why  primitive  methods  have  triumphed:  the  large 
numbers  of  insane  who  were  to  be  cared  for  by  a 
growing  Commonwealth  and  the  dominance  of 
economic  over  humanitarian  and  scientific  motives 
among  the  people  account  for  all  the  facts.  In  the 
general  survey  of  the  care  of  the  insane  the  policy, 
which  was  early  in  vogue  in  Iowa  both  as  a  Territory 
and  as  a  State,  has  been  noticed.  This  policy  was 
based  upon  the  method  of  caring  for  the  poor :  sup- 
port by  relatives,  if  they  were  able,  or  through  the 
proceeds  from  the  insane  man's  estate ;  and  if  neither 
of  these  means  of  support  were  available,  then  sup- 
port out  of  the  county  treasury.  As  the  State  insti- 
tutions for  the  insane  were  established,  this  method 
had  to  be  modified  to  some  extent.  As  has  been  seen, 


262      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

however,  the  only  modification  was  that  the  expenses 
were  paid  by  the  State  and  were  charged  back  to  the 
county,  which  either  paid  them  itself  or  collected 
them  from  those  who  were  legally  chargeable. 

A  great  deal  of  difficulty  arose  in  connection  with 
this  question  of  support  by  reason  of  the  law  of  set- 
tlement, applicable  to  all  pauper  insane,  as  well  as 
to  other  paupers.  A  number  of  acts  were  passed  by 
the  General  Assembly  regulating  the  support  of  in- 
sane paupers  who  had  no  legal  settlement  in  the 
State  of  Iowa.  The  Twenty-first  General  Assembly 
provided  that  such  a  person  found  to  be  insane  in  a 
county  might  be  sent  to  the  place  of  his  legal  settle- 
ment by  an  order  of  the  commissioners  of  insanity 
directed  to  the  county  sheriff.389  Provision  was 
made  in  another  law  for  the  settlement  of  disputes 
between  counties  as  to  the  legal  settlement  of  an  in- 
sane person  in  the  State  hospital.390  Moreover,  an 
act  of  the  Twenty-fourth  General  Assembly  made  a 
county  from  which  any  soldier,  sailor,  or  marine  had 
been  admitted  to  the  Iowa  Soldiers'  Home,  respon- 
sible for  all  the  costs  connected  with  the  investiga- 
tion and  with  his  disposal.391 

Loose  administration  of  these  laws  permitted 
abuses.  The  counties  were  very  keen  to  discover 
after  a  patient  was  placed  in  the  State  institution, 
that  he  had  no  legal  settlement  in  the  county  from 
which  he  was  sent.  Governor  Jackson,  in  his  bien- 
nial message  of  1896,  called  attention  to  the  fact  that 
in  the  State  Hospitals  for  the  Insane  there  were 
three  hundred  and  thirty-nine  patients  maintained 


CARE  OF  DEFECTIVES  263 

by  the  State  at  large  because  they  had  no  settlement 
in  any  county  in  the  State.  Of  these  twenty-seven 
had  their  residence  abroad,  twenty-eight  belonged  in 
various  eastern  and  southern  States,  twenty-four  in 
far  western  States,  thirty  in  Illinois,  fourteen  in  Ne- 
braska, fourteen  in  Missouri,  twelve  in  Wisconsin, 
eight  in  Dakota,  and  seven  in  Minnesota.  Thus  there 
was  a  total  of  eighty-five  inmates  in  the  State  hospi- 
tals of  Iowa  who  belonged  in  neighboring  States. 
Thirty-nine  claimed  to  have  a  legal  settlement  in 
Iowa,  but  the  county  was  unknown ;  and  one  hundred 
and  thirty-six  others  had  no  residence.  The  Govern- 
or sharply  criticised  the  commissioners  of  the  coun- 
ties and  the  police  for  sending  to  the  hospitals  these 
people  instead  of  returning  to  the  proper  places 
those  who  resided  in  other  States,  and  urged  that  the 
law  be  changed  at  once  so  that  this  burden  need  not 
be  borne  by  Iowa. 

This  was  an  appeal  which  met  with  a  ready  re- 
sponse from  the  legislators,  and  the  General  Assem- 
bly passed  an  act  providing  that  the  trustees  and 
the  superintendent  of  the  Hospital  for  the  Insane 
might  remove  any  patient  who  had  no  legal  settle- 
ment in  the  State  to  the  place  of  his  settlement  and 
pay  the  expenses  out  of  the  State  treasury.  Further 
details  regulating  the  payment  of  the  expenses  con- 
nected with  the  examination  and  care  of  an  insane 
patient  who  had  no  settlement  in  the  county  in  which 
he  became  insane  were  enacted  by  the  Thirtieth  and 
Thirty-fifth  General  Assemblies.  In  general,  the  ef- 
fect of  these  acts  was  simply  to  make  the  county 


264      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

where  the  insane  person  was  found  pay  the  expense 
in  the  first  instance,  and  then  charge  it  either  to  the 
county  of  settlement  (if  within  the  State)  or  to  the 
State  (if  the  place  of  settlement  was  elsewhere),  in- 
stead of  committing  the  administration  of  the  law 
in  this  respect  to  a  special  board  or  commission  —  a 
plan  which  has  worked  so  successfully  in  New  York 
State.392 

By  an  act  approved  on  April  9, 1906,  however,  the 
General  Assembly  provided  that  the  non-resident 
insane  within  the  State  were  to  be  cared  for  at  the 
expense  of  the  State  in  one  of  the  State  hospitals  to 
be  designated  by  the  Board  of  Control.  The  Board, 
following  the  New  York  method  of  handling  the 
matter,  was  made  responsible  also  for  the  removal 
of  insane  persons  having  settlement  in  another  State 
or  the  charging  of  the  expense  of  support  to  the 
proper  county,  if  it  was  found  that  they  had  a  settle- 
ment within  the  State  of  Iowa.393  It  was  not  until 
the  Thirty-fourth  General  Assembly  passed  an  act 
approved  on  April  1,  1911,  that  a  previous  change 
in  the  poor  laws  was  made  applicable  to  the  support 
of  the  pauper  insane.  This  change  made  the  estates 
of  such  persons  and  all  people  legally  responsible  for 
their  support,  instead  of  the  county  as  hitherto, 
liable  to  the  State  for  a  reasonable  sum  for  their 
care  and  maintenance.394 

It  is  very  apparent  that  the  endeavor  to  place 
financial  responsibility  for  the  care  of  the  indigent 
insane  upon  the  county  in  which  such  persons  had  a 
legal  settlement  was  responsible  for  many  of  the 


CARE  OF  DEFECTIVES  265 

backward  features  of  the  laws  for  the  care  of  this 
class  of  unfortunates.  Had  the  State  come  out 
squarely  and  provided  for  their  care  at  State  ex- 
pense, doubtless  there  would  have  been  abuses :  prob- 
ably there  would  have  been  cases  of  counties  send- 
ing to  the  State  hospitals  for  the  insane  people  whose 
only  defect  was  poverty.  Whether  that,  however, 
would  have  been  worse  than  the  condemning  of  the 
people  in  the  poorhouse  to  associate  with  insane  peo- 
ple and  providing  the  insane  only  with  the  poor  ac- 
commodations there  to  be  found  is  open  to  question. 
It  is  further  to  be  observed  that  had  the  State 
taken  under  its  care  the  chronic  insane,  as  was  so 
often  suggested,  the  abuses  which  have  been  men- 
tioned as  being  possible  would  have  been  more  easily 
detected  and  remedied  than  those  which  actually  oc- 
curred. In  this  case,  as  in  the  case  of  the  feeble- 
minded, and  especially  as  in  the  case  of  children, 
the  attempt  to  apply  the  county  system  of  respon- 
sibility in  the  care  of  dependents  has  worked  badly. 
The  only  redeeming  feature  in  this  whole  history  of 
the  county  care  of  these  dependents,  whether  of 
children,  feeble-minded,  or  insane,  has  come  after 
State  control  was  introduced.  Only  in  so  far  as  the 
institutions  caring  for  these  unfortunates  have  been 
strictly  controlled  have  they  been  improved  and 
made  up-to-date.  Moreover,  the  abuses  which  still 
remain  are  due  to  the  lack  of  strict  and  careful  State 
control.  There  is  not  a  county  in  the  State  of  Iowa 
which  has  an  asylum  for  the  insane  separate  from 
the  county  poorhouse  (the  one  being  supervised  and 


266      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

regulated  by  the  State  while  the  other  is  not)  in 
which  a  comparison  does  not  show  a  contrast  be- 
tween the  conditions  prevailing  in  these  two  institu- 
tions. In  the  neighboring  State  of  Wisconsin,  where 
the  county  system  of  caring  for  the  chronic  insane 
is  very  much  further  developed  than  it  is  in  Iowa, 
there  is  evident  this  same  contrast  between  the  coun- 
ty asylum  and  the  county  poorhouse  —  and  this  is 
true  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  in  that  Commonwealth 
there  is  a  quasi  State  control  over  the  poorhouses. 
This  control  is,  however,  not  so  strict  in  the  case  of 
the  poorhouses  as  in  the  case  of  the  county  insane 
asylums. 

THE  DEAF  AND  DUMB 

Sympathy  for  those  people  who  could  neither  talk 
nor  hear  and  the  nation-wide  movement  championed 
by  Mr.  Howe  and  Professor  Gallaudet  in  the  East 
early  led  the  legislature  of  Iowa  to  make  provision 
for  the  care  of  the  deaf  and  dumb. 

The  Code  of  1851  provided  for  the  payment  from 
the  State  treasury  annually  of  not  more  than  one 
hundred  dollars  to  each  deaf  and  dumb  person  be- 
tween the  ages  of  ten  and  thirty  years,  which  amount 
was  to  be  applied  in  paying  for  their  education. 
This  provision  goes  back  to  the  act  approved  on 
January  15,  1849,  in  which  the  amount  named  was 
fifty  dollars  with  a  maximum  of  not  more  than  one 
hundred  dollars.895  In  1855  the  General  Assembly 
provided  for  the  establishment  of  an  institution  for 
the  deaf  and  dumb.  According  to  this  act  every  such 
person  in  the  State  of  suitable  age  and  capacity  was 


CAEE  OF  DEFECTIVES  267 

to  receive  an  education  at  the  expense  of  the  State  ;396 
while  the  previous  provision  was  for  an  education  at 
State  expense  either  outside  a  special  institution  or 
else  at  an  institution  in  another  State. 

The  institution  for  the  education  of  the  deaf  and 
dumb  thus  provided  for  was  first  located  at  Iowa 
City,  at  that  time  the  capital  of  the  State.  It  was 
conducted  in  a  building  rented  by  the  State  for 
three  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars  a  year  even 
as  late  as  1864,397  and  it  was  not  until  1868  that  a 
measure  was  introduced  into  the  legislature  provid- 
ing for  the  erection  of  a  building  for  a  school  for  the 
deaf  and  dumb.  In  that  year  a  bill  was  introduced 
as  House  File  No.  145  providing  for  the  erection  of 
such  a  building.398  On  April  7th  of  that  year  an  act 
was  approved  which  accepted  the  grounds  located 
near  Council  Bluffs 3"  and  selected  by  the  commis- 
sion appointed  under  an  act  approved  on  April  3, 
1866.  On  the  same  day  an  act  was  passed  providing 
for  the  education  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  whose  par- 
ents could  not  afford  to  pay  the  thirty  dollars  per 
quarter  required  by  the  statute  for  the  support  of 
inmates  of  that  institution.  The  law  provided  that 
this  amount  in  such  cases  should  be  paid  by  the 
county  supervisors.400  The  difficulty  of  securing  the 
admission  of  a  person  who  needed  the  facilities  which 
this  institution  provided  were  obviated,  which  was 
not  true  in  the  case  of  the  Soldiers '  Orphans '  Home, 
by  a  provision  that  the  county  superintendent  of 
schools  was  required  to  report  to  the  superintendent 
of  the  institution  for  the  deaf  and  dumb  all  persons 


268      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

of  school  age  in  his  county  whose  hearing  and  speak- 
ing faculties  were  such  that  they  could  not  obtain 
an  education  in  the  common  schools.401 

A  measure  was  passed  by  the  last  General  As- 
sembly relating  to  the  care  of  this  class  of  unfor- 
tunate dependents:  an  act  approved  on  March  29, 
1913,  provided  that  every  resident  of  the  State  be- 
tween five  and  twenty-one  years  who  was  deaf  and 
dumb  or  so  deaf  as  to  be  unable  to  acquire  an  edu- 
cation in  the  common  schools,  and  every  other  per- 
son between  the  ages  of  twenty-one  and  thirty-five 
who  should  secure  the  consent  of  the  Board  of  Con- 
trol, was  entitled  to  receive  an  education  in  the  in- 
stitution for  the  deaf  and  dumb  at  the  expense  of 
the  State.  Thus  the  age  limit  was  extended  because 
of  the  realization  of  the  fact  that  many  of  those  who 
were  beyond  school  age  could  be  taught  useful  trades 
by  which  they  could  support  themselves,  and  the 
county  superintendent  was  required  to  report  all 
such  persons  between  the  ages  of  five  and  thirty-five. 

The  State 's  record  in  the  care  of  the  indigent  deaf 
and  dumb  is  in  striking  contrast  with  its  care  of 
children  and  insane  persons  in  the  poorhouses,  and 
is  very  similar  to  its  record  for  the  care  of  the  feeble- 
minded. One  can  point  to  the  care  of  the  feeble- 
minded and  the  deaf  and  dumb  in  Iowa  with  a  feel- 
ing of  pride.  On  the  other  hand,  when  one  thinks 
of  the  atrocities  committed  on  defenseless  children 
kept  in  poorhouses,  and  the  sufferings  endured  by 
insane  paupers  in  the  State  of  Iowa  during  the  last 


CARE  OF  DEFECTIVES  269 

fifty  years,  he  must  hang  his  head  with  shame  and 
burn  with  indignation. 

THE  BLIND 

Public  care  of  the  blind  in  Iowa  began  early.  On 
January  15,  1849,  at  the  second  session  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  the  same  provision  was  made  for  the 
instruction  of  the  blind  as  for  the  deaf  and  dumb. 
That  is  to  say,  the  act  provided  that  the  sum  of  fifty 
dollars  should  be  paid  from  the  State  treasury  an- 
nually to  the  parents  or  guardian  of  such  a  person 
to  be  applied  in  defraying  the  expenses  of  his  educa- 
tion. In  no  year  was  the  amount  to  be  more  than 
one  hundred  dollars.  This  provision  was  also  in- 
corporated in  the  Code  of  185 1.402 

An  Asylum  for  the  Blind  was  established  by  an 
act  approved  on  January  18, 1853.403  All  blind  per- 
sons resident  in  the  State  and  of  suitable  age  and 
capacity  were  to  be  admitted  to  this  institution  and 
given  an  education  at  the  expense  of  the  State,  ac- 
cording to  the  provisions  of  an  act  approved  on 
January  22,  1855  404  —  a  law  which  was  modified  to 
a  certain  extent  by  an  act  of  the  Eleventh  General 
Assembly  approved  on  March  22,  1866,  according  to 
which  the  clothing  of  the  paupers  in  the  *  *  Institution 
for  the  Education  of  the  Blind"  was  to  be  furnished 
by  the  parents  or  guardians  or  by  the  county  from 
which  they  came.405 

An  attempt  was  made  in  the  legislature  in  1868 
to  secure  a  further  modification  of  this  law,  limiting 
the  support  of  the  State  to  those  who  were  incapaci- 


270      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

tated  from  self-support  by  incurable  diseases  of  the 
eye;  but  a  bill  to  this  effect  failed  to  pass.408  The 
Thirteenth  General  Assembly  in  1870,  however,  pro- 
vided for  an  industrial  home  for  blind  adult  persons 
who  were  unable  to  support  themselves,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  institution.  It  was  governed  by  the 
same  trustees  and  was  open  to  such  blind  persons 
as  were  dependent  on  their  own  labor  for  support. 
In  1872  the  name  was  changed  to  Iowa  College  for 
the  Blind. 

This  movement  for  an  institution  where  the  adult 
blind  could  support  themselves  received  great  im- 
petus twenty  years  later  when  Governor  Larrabee, 
in  his  second  biennial  message  on  February  13, 
1890,  made  reference  to  the  report  of  a  commission 
which  he  had  appointed  under  an  act  of  the  Twenty- 
second  General  Assembly  to  examine  various  insti- 
tutions in  other  States  in  which  the  blind  were  em- 
ployed in  useful  arts.  That  report  was  transmitted 
by  the  Governor  with  his  message.  He  said  that  it 
was  estimated  that  there  were  from  fifteen  hundred 
to  eighteen  hundred  blind  people  in  the  State  at  that 
time,  many  of  whom  were  idle  at  home  or  in  the 
poorhouses  and  dependent  upon  charity.  He  urged 
the  building  of  an  institution  for  the  adult  blind ; 407 
and  the  General  Assembly,  in  an  act  approved  on 
April  23,  1890,  gave  effect  to  this  recommendation 
by  providing  for  the  establishment  of  an  Industrial 
Home  for  the  Adult  Blind  at  Knoxville.  Nothing 
was  said  in  the  act  as  to  the  terms  upon  which  such 


CARE  OF  DEFECTIVES  271 

persons  might  be  received.  It  was  stated,  however, 
that  the  object  was  to  provide  a  home  and  means  for 
the  blind  to  earn  and  provide  their  own  living.  This 
Home  continued  in  operation  until  the  Twenty- 
eighth  General  Assembly  in  1900  directed  the  Board 
of  Control  to  close  the  institution,  sell  the  building 
and  the  property  within  it,  send  the  inmates  to 
their  homes,  and  lease  the  farm.408  Four  years  later 
the  institution  at  Knoxville  was  turned  into  the 
Hospital  for  Inebriates. 

From  1849  the  court  in  each  county  was  required 
to  certify  to  the  State  Superintendent  of  Public  In- 
struction the  names  of  all  deaf,  dumb,  and  blind  per- 
sons in  each  county  from  ten  to  thirty  years  of  age. 
In  the  Code  of  1897  the  county  superintendent  was 
required  to  report  to  the  superintendent  of  the  in- 
stitution for  the  blind  the  name  and  post-office  ad- 
dress of  all  residents  in  his  county  who  were  so 
blind  that  they  could  not  gain  an  education  in  the 
common  schools.409  This  Code  put  the  care  of  the 
blind  back  upon  the  original  basis  of  State  support 
for  the  purposes  of  an  education  including  all  the 
blind,  and  not  merely  those  who  were  indigent. 

The  Thirty-fourth  General  Assembly  by  an  act 
approved  on  April  6,  1911,  removed  the  College  for 
the  Blind  from  oversight  by  the  Board  of  Control 
and  placed  it  under  the  State  Board  of  Education.410 
Thus,  again,  the  State  of  Iowa  has  throughout  its 
history  pursued  a  strictly  constructive  policy  with 
respect  to  this  class  of  indigents. 


272      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

INEBRIATES 

One  can  hardly  say,  however,  that  the  State  has 
pursued  a  consistent  policy  in  caring  for  indigent 
inebriates.  From  a  very  early  date  in  the  States 
and  Territories  from  which  the  early  laws  of  Iowa 
were  borrowed  there  were  provisions  for  the  ap- 
pointment of  guardians  to  care  for  the  estates  of 
drunkards,  and  provisions  were  made  for  their  care 
by  the  poor  relief  authorities.41*1  These  provisions 
for  the  appointment  of  a  guardian  for  a  habitual 
drunkard,  incapable  of  managing  his  own  affairs, 
were  repeated  in  the  Code  of  1873,  and,  although  to 
a  considerable  extent  a  dead  letter,  stand  in  the  law 
at  the  present  time.412 

As  long  ago  as  1876  it  was  recognized  that  the 
desultory  care  of  inebriates  was  not  meeting  the  sit- 
uation. Governor  Carpenter  suggested  in  1876  that 
the  discontinued  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home  at  Glen- 
wood  might  be  used  as  an  inebriate  asylum  —  the 
purpose  which  he  had  in  mind  being  the  reformation 
of  drunkards.  The  usefulness  which  this  class  of 
institutions  had  had  in  other  States  was  the  reason 
for  his  advocating  the  same  policy  for  the  State  of 
Iowa.413  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  the  move- 
ment for  such  an  institution  lay  dormant  until  the 
Twenty-ninth  General  Assembly,  in  an  act  approved 
on  April  12,  1902,  stipulated  that  the  Board  of  Con- 
trol should  provide  for  the  diagnosis  and  treatment 
of  dipsomaniacs,  inebriates,  and  persons  addicted 
to  the  excessive  use  of  morphine  and  other  narcotics, 
in  one  or  more  of  the  State  Hospitals  for  the  Insane. 


CARE  OF  DEFECTIVES  273 

This  act  also  provided  that  the  expenses  connected 
with  such  cases  should  be  borne  and  paid  in  the  same 
manner  as  in  the  case  of  the  insane,  that  is,  by  the 
estate  of  the  person  concerned,  by  his  relatives 
chargeable  under  the  poor  laws,  or  by  the  county. 

In  accordance  with  this  act  departments  for  in- 
ebriates were  opened  on  July  21,  1902,  at  the  insti- 
tution at  Mt.  Pleasant;  on  October  10, 1902,  at  Cher- 
okee ;  and  on  January  8,  1903,  at  Independence.  Be- 
cause of  the  large  number  of  persons  needing  treat- 
ment, the  Board  in  its  report  in  1903  recommended 
the  establishment  of  a  separate  institution  for  such 
cases.414  In  response  to  this  suggestion  the  Thir- 
tieth General  Assembly,  by  an  act  approved  on  April 
6, 1904,  established  the  State  Hospital  for  Inebriates 
at  Knoxville.  For  four  years  this  property  had  lain 
idle,  since  its  discontinuance  as  a  home  for  the  adult 
blind.415  This  same  act  provided  that  the  expenses 
of  the  arrangements,  trial,  and  transportation  occa- 
sioned by  the  transference  of  inebriates  to  this  hos- 
pital at  Knoxville  were  to  be  paid  by  the  county  and 
recovered  by  it  if  possible  from  the  persons  or  others 
chargeable  with  the  support  of  such  persons  as  in  the 
case  of  the  insane.416  The  next  General  Assembly 
slightly  changed  the  method  of  collecting  the 
amounts  due  for  certain  inmates  at  Knoxville,  but  no 
alteration  was  effected  in  principle.417 

The  last  General  Assembly  took  two  steps  in  the 
development  of  the  plan  for  the  care  of  inebriates. 
A  custodial  department  was  provided  in  the  hospital 
for  inebriates  by  an  act  approved  on  April  17,  1913, 


274      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

for  the  care  of  habitual  inebriates  or  those  who  were 
a  menace  to  the  discipline  of  the  institution:  they 
were  to  be  employed  on  the  same  terms  as  those  who 
were  not  in  this  department.  The  other  step  was  a 
provision  for  the  payment  by  the  State  for  the  labor 
of  the  inmates,  all  of  whom  were  to  be  employed  on 
the  farm,  gardens,  and  grounds  of  the  institution 
and  were  to  be  allowed  seventy  cents  per  day  for 
their  labor.  Fifty  cents  of  this  amount  was  to  be 
retained  by  the  State  for  their  maintenance ;  and  the 
other  twenty  cents  a  day  was  to  be  paid  monthly  to 
those  dependent  upon  the  men,  if  there  were  any 
such,  otherwise  to  be  paid  to  the  inmates  upon  their 
legal  release.418 

This  institution  —  half  hospital  and  half  institu- 
tion of  correction  in  its  nature  —  so  far  as  the  prob- 
lem of  dependent  inebriates  is  concerned,  has  been 
conducted  upon  a  very  high  plane.  So  far  as  the 
law  governing  it  is  concerned,  it  is  subject  to  the 
same  criticism  which  applies  to  the  care  of  the  in- 
sane. Counties  are  very  slow  to  send  to  the  institu- 
tion people  who  need  the  treatment  because  of  the 
expense.  A  removal  of  the  provision  charging  the 
cost  to  the  counties  would  doubtless  have  the  effect 
of  causing  more  of  these  victims  of  drink  to  be  sent 
to  the  institution. 

The  other  laws  relating  to  this  institution  have 
not  been  discussed  because  they  do  not  come  within 
the  purview  of  this  subject.  The  institution  has  been 
mentioned  only  in  so  far  as  it  has  to  do  with  those 


CARE  OF  DEFECTIVES  275 

who  can  not  support  themselves  while  taking  the 
treatment. 

EPILEPTICS 

For  a  number  of  years  before  any  definite  meas- 
ure was  adopted  for  the  special  care  of  epileptics  by 
the  State,  they  had  been  cared  for  either  in  the 
county  poorhouses  or  in  the  State  Insane  Asylum, 
or  in  the  home  for  the  feeble-minded.  Often  had 
the  trustees  of  these  institutions  urged  the  necessity 
of  providing  a  special  institution  for  the  care  of 
epileptics.  In  1896  Governor  Jackson,  in  his  bien- 
nial message,  urged  that  the  State  in  the  near  future 
should  locate  at  some  central  point  a  colony  for 
epileptics.419  He  made  this  recommendation  on  the 
ground  that  to  do  so  would  relieve  the  insane  hos- 
pitals of  many  patients.  Superintendent  Powell,  in 
a  paper  read  before  the  Board  of  Control  on  Decem- 
ber 13, 1898,  had  reported  that  after  a  careful  exam- 
ination he  was  led  to  the  belief  that  there  were  over 
thirty-three  hundred  epileptics  in  the  State  of  Iowa. 
Of  these,  two  hundred  were  in  the  institution  for 
the  feeble-minded,  about  fifty  in  each  of  the  State 
hospitals  for  the  insane,  and  one  hundred  and  forty- 
three  in  county  poorhouses  and  asylums.  The  rest 
of  them  were  not  cared  for  in  any  State  or  county 
institution.  The  presence  of  those  in  the  hospitals, 
he  argued,  was  a  source  of  constant  danger  to  the 
other  patients.  He  therefore  urged  that  a  colony  be 
established  for  the  special  care  of  this  class  of  de- 
fectives. The  epileptic's  need  of  special  treatment, 


276      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

the  necessity  of  his  employment  out  of  doors,  and  the 
constant  attention  which  he  required,  as  well  as  the 
success  of  epileptic  colonies  or  villages  which  had 
been  established  previously  in  Ohio,  New  York, 
Pennsylvania,  Massachusetts,  and  New  Jersey,  were 
considerations  upon  which  he  urged  the  establish- 
ment of  such  an  institution.420 

The  Board  of  Control,  moreover,  from  its  very 
beginning  pressed  upon  the  legislature  the  necessity 
of  the  establishment  of  a  colony  for  epileptics.  In 
its  third  report  it  called  attention  to  the  fact  that 
there  were  four  hundred  and  two  epileptics  in  vari- 
ous State  and  county  institutions  at  the  close  of  the 
previous  biennium.  Of  these  one  hundred  and  nine- 
ty-two were  in  the  institution  for  the  feeble-minded, 
two  hundred  and  three  in  State  hospitals  for  the  in- 
sane, and  seventy-nine  in  county  poorhouses.421  The 
Board  of  Control,  furthermore,  consistently  urged 
this  matter  upon  the  attention  of  the  legislature  in  its 
later  reports;  and  Governor  Carroll,  in  his  second 
biennial  message  in  January,  1911,  added  his  sup- 
port to  the  recommendations  of  the  Board.422 

After  more  than  thirteen  years  of  agitation  by 
these  executive  officers  the  legislature  responded 
with  an  act  approved  on  April  10,  1911,  providing 
for  the  unsexing  of  epileptics  along  with  other  de- 
fective classes  in  the  State  institutions,  whenever,  in 
the  judgment  of  the  authorities  of  those  institutions 
it  was  considered  advisable.423  And  finally,  there 
was  passed  an  act  approved  on  April  18,  1913,  pro- 
viding for  the  establishment  of  a  State  Colony  for 


CARE  OF  DEFECTIVES  277 

Epileptics.  In  this  act  nothing  is  said  about  the 
support  of  persons  to  be  admittted.  It  provides, 
however,  for  the  admission  of  all  persons  affected 
with  epilepsy  who  have  been  residents  of  the  State 
one  year.  The  probabilities  are  that  the  same  meas- 
ures for  the  support  of  those  who  are  unable  to  sup- 
port themselves  or  who  have  relatives  unable  to 
support  them  in  this  institution  as  apply  in  the  case 
of  indigent  insane  or  feeble-minded  will  be  operative 
when  the  institution  is  ready  to  receive  patients.424 

One  could  wish  that  in  establishing  a  new  institu- 
tion the  legislature  might  try  out  the  system  of  State 
support  in  order  to  see  how  it  would  work  as  com- 
pared with  the  antiquated  system  of  county  support, 
dominated  as  it  is  bound  to  be  by  purely  economic 
motives  rather  than  by  the  motives  of  large  social 
vision  which  sees  only  the  welfare  of  the  population 
of  the  State. 


XIII 

SPECIAL  CLASSES  OF  DEPENDENTS:    SOL- 
DIERS, SAILORS,  AND  MARINES 

In  the  chapter  dealing  with  dependent  children  the 
measures  taken  by  the  State  for  the  care  of  the  or- 
phans of  soldiers,  sailors,  and  marines  have  already 
been  discussed.  Concurrently  with  legislation  rela- 
tive to  the  children  of  these  classes,  the  legislature 
provided  for  the  care  of  soldiers  and  their  families. 
In  connection  with  the  discussion  of  the  poorhouse 
it  has  been  seen  that  counties  were  forbidden  to  care 
for  the  widows  and  families  of  Iowa  soldiers  at  these 
county  institutions  when  they  preferred  to  be  re- 
lieved outside  of  the  poorhouse  at  two  dollars  per 
week  for  each  person,  exclusive  of  medical  attend- 
ance.425 

Laws  enacted  by  the  Twenty-second  and  Twenty- 
fourth  General  Assemblies  provided  for  the  levy  of 
a  tax  in  each  county,  the  first  of  three-tenths  and  the 
latter  of  one-half  a  mill  on  the  dollar,  to  create  a 
soldiers '  relief  fund.  The  purpose  of  this  fund  was 
to  pay  for  the  relief  of  the  families  of  soldiers  and 
the  funeral  expenses  of  honorably  discharged  Union 
soldiers,  sailors,  and  marines,  and  for  the  care  of 
their  indigent  wives  and  minor  children  if  the  latter 
were  boys  below  fourteen  years  of  age  or  girls  below 

278 


SOLDIERS,  SAILORS,  AND  MARINES        279 

sixteen  years  of  age,  and  if  they  had  a  legal  resi- 
dence in  the  county.  A  special  soldiers'  relief  com- 
mission was  to  be  appointed  in  each  county  to  ad- 
minister this  fund.  The  law  was  amended  at  various 
times:  first,  by  the  Thirtieth  General  Assembly, 
which  changed  the  act  so  that  it  was  no  longer  limit- 
ed to  the  soldiers  of  the  Civil  War,  but  included  those 
of  any  war ;  and  second  by  the  Thirty-third  General 
Assembly,  raising  the  amount  which  could  be  al- 
lowed for  funeral  expenses  from  thirty-five  to  fifty 
dollars,  and  raising  the  rate  of  taxation  permitted 
from  one-half  mill  on  the  dollar  to  one  mill.426 

The  Thirty-fourth  General  Assembly  in  an  act 
approved  on  March  11,  1911,  extended  the  funeral 
expense  benefit  to  the  deceased  wife  or  widow  of 
such  an  indigent  soldier,  sailor,  or  marine  who  had 
not  an  estate  sufficient  to  pay  funeral  expenses. 

The  early  provisions  for  the  care  of  indigent  sol- 
diers and  sailors  in  their  homes  were  not  satisfac- 
tory. Governor  Sherman  in  his  second  biennial 
message  on  January  14,  1886,  approved  the  sugges- 
tion for  the  establishment  of  a  soldiers'  home.427 
This  was  simply  the  culmination  of  an  agitation, 
partly  political  and  partly  humanitarian  in  its  mo- 
tives, that  had  gone  on  for  some  time  with  respect  to 
special  provision  for  the  old  soldiers.  The  legisla- 
ture responded  by  enacting  a  law  approved  on  March 
31,  1886,  establishing  the  Iowa  Soldiers'  Home  at 
Marshalltown.  The  purpose  stated  in  the  act  was  to 
provide  a  home  and  subsistence  for  all  honorably 
discharged  soldiers,  sailors,  and  marines  who  had 


280      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

served  in  the  army  or  navy  of  the  United  States  and 
who  were  disabled  by  disease,  wounds,  or  otherwise. 
They  must  have  been  residents  of  the  State  three 
years  unless  they  had  served  in  an  Iowa  regiment  or 
were  accredited  to  the  State  of  Iowa.  A  board  of 
six  commissioners  appointed  by  the  Governor  with 
the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate  was  constituted 
the  governing  body  of  this  institution.428 

An  act  was  approved  on  April  9,  1892,  providing 
for  the  erection  of  ten  cottages  at  the  Soldiers '  Home 
for  the  use  of  soldiers,  sailors,  and  marines  and  their 
dependent  wives  who  desired  to  be  with  their  hus- 
bands at  the  Home.  The  wife  first  had  to  secure  the 
approval  of  the  Grand  Army  post  nearest  her  place 
of  residence  in  order  to  be  supported  and  maintained 
and  to  receive  the  same  allowance  from  the  State  as 
the  other  inmates.  This  same  act  provided  also  for 
suitable  rooms  at  the  Home  for  the  widows  of  de- 
ceased soldiers,  sailors,  and  marines  who  at  the  time 
of  the  decease  of  their  husbands  were  entitled  to 
become  inmates.  They  also  were  required  to  secure 
the  approval  of  the  local  Grand  Army  post  as  in  the 
case  of  the  wives  of  soldiers  just  mentioned.429 

A  restriction  upon  the  use  of  pension  money  was 
made  by  the  legislature  in  an  act  approved  on  March 
29,  1900.  In  case  a  soldier  in  the  Home  who  had 
been  twice  convicted  of  a  crime  or  misdemeanor  had 
a  wife,  child,  or  parent  dependent  upon  him  for  sup- 
port, one-half  of  his  pension  money  was  to  be  sent 
to  such  person  and  the  other  half  was  to  be  kept  and 
paid  out  for  the  dependent  pensioner  subject  to  the 


SOLDIERS,  SAILORS,  AND  MARINES        281 

approval  of  the  Board  of  Control  and  the  Com- 
mandant of  the  Home  for  things  necessary  for  his 
keep  and  welfare.  In  all  cases  those  who  had  wives 
or  minor  children  dependent  upon  them  were  re- 
quired to  deposit  with  the  Commandant  one-half  of 
their  pension  money  to  be  sent  to  such  dependents, 
unless  it  could  be  proved  that  such  wife  was  a  woman 
of  immoral  character.430 

The  law  admitting  soldiers  to  this  Home  was  in- 
terpreted liberally  by  the  Board  of  Control  after  the 
Home  came  under  its  control  in  1898,  and  was  made 
to  include  those  who  had  served  not  only  in  the  Civil 
War  but  in  the  regular  army  in  times  of  peace  and 
those  who  had  served  in  the  recent  war  with  Spain.431 
After  1907  admission  to  the  Soldiers'  Home  was 
made  only  after  a  certificate  had  been  signed  by  the 
board  of  supervisors  of  the  county  in  which  the  per- 
son resided,  showing  that  such  person  was  a  resident 
of  that  county.  This  requirement  was  made  in  or- 
der that  in  case  such  a  person  should  leave  the  Home 
or  be  expelled  for  any  cause,  the  county  from  which 
he  came  could  be  made  chargeable  with  his  care.432 

A  further  step  was  taken  by  the  Thirty-third  Gen- 
eral Assembly  when,  in  an  act  approved  on  March 
12,  1909,  it  provided  for  the  admission  to  the  Sol- 
diers' Home  of  the  fathers  of  soldiers,  sailors,  or 
marines  who  were  dependent  upon  the  latter  for 
support.433  This  same  General  Assembly  made  pro- 
vision also  for  the  admission  into  the  Home  of  those 
who  were  only  partially  able  to  pay  for  their  sup- 
port, provided  those  who  were  entirely  dependent 


282      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

had  first  been  admitted.  Those  who  received  a  pen- 
sion under  twenty  dollars  a  month  were  not  required 
to  pay  for  their  maintenance  in  the  Home.  If  they 
received  more  than  that  amount  they  paid  the 
amount  over  twenty  dollars  a  month  up  to  the  total 
amount  necessary  to  pay  for  their  support  in  the 
institution  unless  someone  was  dependent  upon  them. 
In  that  case  the  excess  over  twenty  dollars  per  month 
went  to  the  dependents.434 

Partly  because  of  objections  raised  to  using  funds 
received  by  the  soldiers  from  the  National  govern- 
ment to  pay  for  his  keep  in  a  State  Home  and  partly 
because  of  a  sentimental  feeling  against  making  the 
soldier  pay  for  his  keep  out  of  his  pension  money, 
the  last  General  Assembly  changed  this  rule  in  part 
by  providing  that  no  pension  money  received  from 
the  United  States  shall  be  taken  from  the  old  soldier 
for  his  support  in  the  Iowa  Soldiers '  Home.435  This 
General  Assembly  further  amended  the  act  for  the 
support  of  dependent  soldiers,  sailors,  and  marines, 
and  certain  of  their  natural  dependents.  A  woman 
who  before  1890  had  married  a  soldier  and  who  had 
lost  her  husband  by  death  or  by  divorce,  if  the  fault 
was  not  her  own,  even  though  married  again  and 
even  though  her  present  husband  is  not  an  inmate, 
is  entitled  to  support  in  the  Soldiers '  Home.  Army 
nurses  and  mothers  of  honorably  discharged  sol- 
diers, sailors,  and  marines  were  added  to  the  list  of 
those  already  entitled  to  admission.  Furthermore, 
husbands  and  wives  may  be  allowed  by  the  Board 


SOLDIERS,  SAILORS,  AND  MARINES        283 

of  Control  to  occupy  cottages  or  other  quarters  to- 
gether.436 

Thus  the  provision  which  was  first  made  for  the 
support  of  indigent  soldiers  was  gradually  extended 
to  include  sailors  and  marines,  and  then  the  members 
of  the  families  of  these  persons — at  first  the  widows, 
then  the  fathers,  and  finally  the  mothers,  innocent 
divorced  wives  —  and  army  nurses.  Furthermore,  by 
the  interpretation  of  the  Board  of  Control  not  only 
the  soldiers,  sailors,  and  marines  of  the  Civil  War, 
but  members  of  the  regular  army  in  time  of  peace 
and  soldiers  of  the  Spanish-American  War  were 
admitted. 

Without  doubt  in  many  cases  the  establishment  of 
the  Soldiers '  Home  performed  a  most  worthy  service 
in  caring  for  the  old  soldier  and  his  dependents.  On 
the  other  hand  it  is  also  true  that  the  Home  was  the 
method  by  which  some  old  soldiers  have  been  pau- 
perized. The  stimulus  of  the  necessity  of  personal 
endeavor  to  make  a  living  has  in  some  cases  been 
weakened.  Relatives  who  should  have  had  the  bur- 
den of  the  old  soldier's  support  placed  upon  their 
shoulders  have  easily  shifted  that  burden  to  the 
State,  and  the  old  soldier  has  been  bundled  off  to  the 
Soldiers'  Home  to  live  and  die  without  the  love  and 
care  of  those  who  naturally  should  be  expected  to 
give  him  a  home.  In  those  cases  in  which  the  old 
veteran  was  a  hard  drinker  doubtless  the  Home  pro- 
vided a  great  relief  to  the  relatives,  yet  it  is  difficult 
to  see  how  this  shifting  of  the  responsibility  in  most 


284      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

cases  was  beneficial  either  to  the  relatives,  to  the 
soldier,  or  to  the  State. 

Furthermore,  it  is  open  to  grave  question  whether 
the  act  of  the  last  General  Assembly  which  forbade 
the  taking  of  as  much  of  the  soldier's  pension  as  is 
necessary  to  pay  for  his  keep  in  the  Home  is  an 
evidence  of  the  highest  social  wisdom.  Perhaps  it 
will  do  no  harm  to  those  veterans  who  know  how  to 
spend  their  money  wisely;  but  to  those  who  will 
squander  it  for  drink  or  for  even  more  questionable 
purposes  the  law  will  be  a  doubtful  kindness.  The 
old  soldier  should  be  cared  for.  That  care,  how- 
ever, should  be  given  by  his  children  or  his  other 
close  relatives  whenever  possible,  and  when  that  is 
impossible,  then  the  State  should  not  remove  the 
last  means  of  retaining  self-respect  by  forbidding 
him  to  pay  for  his  keep  in  the  State  institution  out 
of  his  only  source  of  income,  his  pension.  Even 
though  he  be  an  old  soldier  he  should  be  helped  by 
the  State  to  retain  his  economic  independence  by 
self-support  wherever  possible. 


XIV 

SPECIAL  CLASSES  OF  DEPENDENTS:  THE 

SICK 

It  has  been  already  shown  that  early  in  the  devel- 
opment of  outdoor  relief  as  well  as  of  relief  in  the 
poorhouse,  provision  was  made  for  medical  attend- 
ance for  the  poor  at  the  expense  of  the  county.  This 
system  has  continued  to  the  present  day,  but  as  a 
general  rule  it  has  been  notoriously  inadequate.  The 
county  doctor  has  usually  been  some  man  who  need- 
ed the  practice  so  badly  that  he  would  under-bid 
every  other  physician  in  the  county  for  the  work. 
Taking  it  at  a  very  low  figure,  he  doubtless  felt 
justified  in  not  doing  any  more  than  was  absolutely 
necessary.  The  result  has  been  in  most  cases  that 
the  county  doctor's  visits  to  the  poorhouse  are  not 
made  oftener  than  once  a  week  and  in  some  cases 
even  less  often.437 

Partly  because  of  the  inadequacy  of  county  medi- 
cal relief  the  Thirty-third  General  Assembly  pro- 
vided for  the  optional  establishment  of  hospitals  by 
counties,  to  be  at  the  service  both  of  public  patients 
and  of  those  who  were  able  to  pay  for  treatment. 
The  same  act  provided  for  the  care  of  indigent  tu- 
berculosis patients  at  county  expense.438  Up  to  the 

285 


286      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

present  time  but  two  counties  have  established  insti- 
tutions of  this  character. 

Before  the  establishment  of  these  county  hospitals 
the  legislature,  in  an  act  approved  on  April  9, 1906, 
provided  for  the  establishment  of  the  State  Tuber- 
culosis Sanitorium  at  Oakdale  for  the  care  of  incip- 
ient cases  only.  Indigent  patients,  however,  were 
admitted,  and  the  expenses  of  their  transportation 
and  care  in  the  hospital  were  to  be  paid  out  of  the 
State  treasury  on  certification  of  the  board  of  health 
of  the  city  or  incorporated  town  where  the  patient 
resided,  or  of  a  majority  of  the  trustees  of  the  town- 
ship —  this  provision  extending  only  to  indigent  res- 
idents of  the  State.  The  same  act  gave  the  superin- 
tendent the  authority  to  stimulate  the  organization 
of  hospitals  or  dispensaries  in  the  various  counties, 
and  large  centers  of  the  State  for  advanced  cases.439 

The  last  General  Assembly,  by  an  act  approved  on 
April  12,  1913,  went  one  step  further.  The  county 
supervisors  may  now  provide  for  the  segregation 
and  maintenance  of  persons  in  the  advanced  stages 
of  tuberculosis  who  are  unable  to  provide  for  them- 
selves and  who  have  no  relatives  liable  for  their  sup- 
port. The  amount  to  be  spent  in  counties  for  build- 
ings to  care  for  such  cases  is  limited  according  to  the 
population,  unless  a  greater  amount  is  approved  by 
a  vote  of  the  qualified  electors.440 

Furthermore,  the  legislature  in  1913  provided  for 
a  department  at  the  State  Sanitorium  for  the  treat- 
ment of  advanced  cases,  and  especially  for  the  pa- 
tients from  those  counties  which  had  not  erected 


CARE  OF  THE  SICK  287 

county  sanitoriums  for  such  cases.  In  these  in- 
stances the  counties  from  which  they  came  were  to  be 
liable  in  case  the  amount  could  not  be  collected  from 
the  patients  —  a  provision  in  all  respects  similar  to 
the  county  liability  for  insane  people  and  for  incip- 
ient cases  in  the  sanitorium.  Until  1913,  as  has  been 
seen,  incipient  tuberculosis  patients  had  been  sup- 
ported at  State  expense  if  they  were  unable  to  pay 
for  their  own  maintenance.  The  same  act  which  pro- 
vided for  the  department  for  advanced  cases  and  for 
county  support  of  these  advanced  cases,  placed  the 
financial  responsibility  for  the  support  of  dependent 
incipient  cases  on  relatives  or  on  the  county  from 
which  they  came.441 

Thus  a  beginning  has  been  made  in  Iowa  in  the  in- 
stitutional care  of  the  sick,  while  special  institutions 
have  been  established  in  the  State  and  have  been 
made  possible  in  the  counties  for  the  care  of  those 
affected  with  tuberculosis.  Unfortunately  the  last 
General  Assembly  abandoned  the  plan  of  State  sup- 
port for  that  of  county  support  of  dependent  tuber- 
cular patients.  Doubtless  the  same  results  from 
this  new  plan  will  be  seen  as  in  the  care  of  dependent 
children  and  of  the  insane.  For  reasons  of  economy 
the  counties  will  probably  prefer  to  keep  their  pa- 
tients in  a  county  institution  with  inferior  care 
rather  than  to  send  them  to  a  State  institution  where 
expert  knowledge  and  methods  can  be  applied  to 
their  treatment.  Except  in  counties  having  large 
cities  the  same  stories  of  neglect  may  be  expected 
from  a  system  possessing  merely  the  form  of  institu- 


288      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

tional  care  of  the  advanced  tuberculosis  patients 
without  the  substance  thereof.  The  doctors  employed 
will  be  on  a  par  with  the  physicians  who  look  after 
the  county  poor  —  probably  they  will  be  the  same 
persons  —  since  such  a  plan  will  be  cheaper.  The 
nurses  who  will  be  employed  without  doubt  can  in 
most  cases  be  called  such  only  by  an  accommodation 
of  language.  Those  responsible  for  such  short- 
sighted, inhuman,  but  economical  procedure,  will 
probably  lay  the  comforting  unction  to  their  souls 
that  these  advanced  cases  are  hopeless  and  will  die 
in  any  case.  Such  reasoning  will  have  the  advantage 
of  not  being  novel  in  the  history  of  the  care  of  the 
poor  in  Iowa.  Perhaps  one  may  be  permitted  to 
hope  that  the  next  legislature  will  repeal  the  pro- 
vision relative  to  county  care  and  support,  except  in 
counties  having  a  population  of  perhaps  fifty  thous- 
and, and  concentrate  the  State 's  money  and  attention 
on  the  department  for  advanced  cases  established  by 
the  last  General  Assembly  at  the  State  Sanitorium.  If 
some  such  plan  is  not  followed,  good  people  through- 
out the  State  may  well  petition  the  General  Assembly 
to  enact  a  law  requiring  the  county  supervisors  to 
put  to  a  painless  and  quick  death  in  a  lethal  chamber 
the  advanced  and  hopeless  cases  of  tuberculosis.  It 
would  certainly  be  more  merciful  than  county  care 
would  be  in  the  less  populous  counties  —  and  it 
would  be  cheaper. 


XV 

SPECIAL  CLASSES  OF  DEPENDENTS: 
VAGRANTS 

Vagrancy  is  a  subject  which  is  merely  related  to 
that  of  dependency:  the  vagrant  is  a  semi-criminal, 
semi-pauper  person.  In  order  to  make  the  treatment 
complete,  however,  a  brief  discussion  of  the  legisla- 
tion relative  to  vagrancy  has  been  included. 

From  the  earliest  days  of  the  Territory  vagrants 
have  received  attention  in  the  laws  of  Iowa.  In  the 
House  of  Representatives  in  1838  a  bill  was  intro- 
duced concerning  vagrants,442  and  it  was  probably 
this  bill  which  became  a  law  on  January  24,  1839. 
In  this  act  a  vagrant  was  denned  as  any  person  who 
gained  his  livelihood  by  gaming,  any  able-bodied 
person  who  was  found  loitering  and  wandering  about 
and  not  having  the  wherewithal  to  support  himself 
by  some  visible  property  and  who  did  not  labor,  any 
person  who  might  become  chargeable  to  the  county, 
and  any  other  idle,  vagrant,  dissolute  person,  wan- 
dering about  without  any  visible  means  of  subsist- 
ence. A  penalty  of  commitment  to  the  county  jail 
until  the  next  district  court  was  provided.  If  it  ap- 
peared to  the  court  that  such  a  person  was  a  vagrant 
and  if  he  happened  to  be  a  minor,  he  was  to  be  bound 
out  until  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age  or  he  might 

289 


290      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

be  hired  out  by  the  court  for  a  time.  In  case  he  had 
a  wife  and  family  who  lived  in  the  Territory  he  could 
be  let  out  on  bond  to  return  to  them  and  follow  some 
useful  employment  for  their  maintenance  and  sup- 
port. The  money  earned  by  a  vagrant  during  the 
period  of  retention  was  to  be  given  him  when  re- 
leased, or  to  his  wife  and  children  if  there  were  such. 
All  justices  of  the  peace,  sheriffs,  constables,  and 
grand  jurors  were  charged  with  the  enforcement  of 
this  law.443 

This  act  continued  in  force  in  Iowa  until  the  en- 
actment of  the  Code  of  1851.  Besides  the  persons 
named  in  the  act  just  noted,  in  that  Code  all  fortune- 
tellers or  persons  who  claimed  to  be  able  to  tell 
where  lost  or  stolen  goods  might  be  found,  common 
prostitutes  and  keepers  of  bawdy  houses  or  houses 
for  the  resort  of  prostitutes,  all  habitual  drunkards 
or  other  disorderly  persons,  all  public  beggars  or 
those  who  forced  children  to  beg,  all  persons  going 
about  as  collectors  of  alms  for  charitable  institutions 
under  any  false  pretenses,  and  all  public  fakers  deal- 
ing in  games  of  chance  or  pretended  games  of 
chance  were  denned  as  vagrants.444  These  pro- 
visions were  continued  in  the  Revision  of  1860  and 
also  in  the  Code  of  1873.™ 

The  Sixteenth  General  Assembly  imposed  a  fine  or 
jail  sentence  on  vagrancy,  and  in  this  act  the  defini- 
tion of  vagrants  was  limited  to  male  persons  begging 
or  "in  a  state  of  vagrancy".  The  board  of  super- 
visors was  to  provide  for  the  working  of  prisoners 
of  this  character  upon  the  county  farm.446  The 


VAGRANTS  291 

Twenty-third  General  Assembly  applied  the  term 
'  *  tramp ' '  to  this  same  class  of  persons  and  provided 
a  penalty.  A  tramp  was  defined  as  any  male  person 
sixteen  years  of  age  or  over,  physically  able  to  per- 
form manual  labor,  who  was  wandering  about  prac- 
ticing common  begging,  or  who  had  no  visible  calling 
or  business  by  which  to  maintain  himself  and  was 
unable  to  show  reasonable  efforts  in  good  faith  to  se- 
cure employment.447 

In  these  laws,  except  in  the  act  of  the  Six- 
teenth General  Assembly,  there  is  no  provision 
for  putting  the  tramp  or  vagrant  in  the  poor- 
house.  In  actual  practice,  however,  many  of  them 
found  their  way,  especially  in  the  winter  seasons,  to 
the  poorhouses,  usually  those  of  populous  counties. 
From  this  time  on,  to  an  even  greater  degree  than 
before,  vagrancy  came  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  crime 
rather  than  as  a  phase  of  dependency.  The  fact  re- 
mains, however,  that  in  the  more  populous  counties 
winter  finds  many  vagrants  gravitating  to  the  poor- 
houses.  So  long  as  there  is  no  work  test  provided 
in  these  institutions,  except  such  work  as  naturally 
has  to  be  done  around  such  an  institution  in  the  win- 
ter, and  so  long  as  discharge  from  the  poorhouse  is 
not  strictly  regulated,  some  exploitation  of  the  insti- 
tution by  this  class  of  paupers  will  continue.  It  is 
for  such  as  these  that  the  State  needs  a  misdemean- 
ants' farm  colony.  Cleveland,  Ohio,  has  such  a  place 
in  its  "Cooley  Farms",  as  they  are  called.  New 
York  State  provided  for  such  a  farm  colony  in  1911. 
The  nations  of  Europe  —  among  them,  Germany, 


292      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

Switzerland,  Holland,  and  Belgium  —  have  had  such 
institutions  for  some  time,  and  they  find  that  such 
places  fill  a  long-felt  want.  No  county  poor  farm  or 
county  jail  can  touch  the  problem.  A  farm  colony 
for  this  class  would  not  only  save  the  counties  and 
municipalities  of  Iowa  thousands  of  dollars  by  de- 
terring vagrants  from  coming  within  its  borders,  but 
would  provide  a  place  where  constructive  work  in 
the  rehabilitation  of  manhood  and  independence 
might  be  accomplished.  To-day  nothing  constructive 
is  accomplished  by  the  current  "passing-on"  method 
of  treating  vagrants. 


XVI 

SPECIAL  RELIEF  FOR  THE  VICTIMS  OF 
CALAMITY 

In  the  history  of  poor  relief  the  unusual  calamity 
has  always  offered  the  occasion  for  putting  into 
practice  the  best  methods  of  relief.  The  unusual  has 
always  attracted  the  attention  and  careful  study  of 
men.  On  the  other  hand,  those  poor  whom  we  have 
always  with  us  become  commonplace  and  do  not  at- 
tract the  careful  thought  of  the  majority  of  people. 
So  universally  prosperous  has  Iowa  been  through- 
out its  history  and  so  fortunate  with  respect  to 
calamities  that  there  have  been  but  few  occasions  for 
the  exercise  of  special  relief  measures. 

The  first  illustration  of  this  phase  of  relief  in  the 
history  of  Iowa  is  to  be  seen  in  the  care  given  to 
those  made  dependent  by  the  Civil  War,  a  subject 
which  has  already  been  discussed.  The  next  calam- 
ity which  focused  the  attention  and  sympathies  of 
the  people  of  Iowa  upon  the  problem  of  the  relief  of 
their  own  stricken  fellow-citizens  was  the  visitation 
of  the  grasshoppers  in  northwestern  Iowa  in  the 
early  seventies.  A  special  committee  of  the  Fifteenth 
General  Assembly  appointed  to  investigate  condi- 
tions in  northwestern  Iowa  in  its  report  to  the  legis- 
lature stated  that  the  people  in  the  counties  of  Sioux, 

293 


294      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

Osceola,  Lyon,  and  O'Brien  were  the  worst  sufferers 
from  these  pests.  The  report  pictures  the  destitu- 
tion of  the  people  and  the  impossibility  of  doing  any- 
thing more  than  they  had  done  to  help  themselves. 
The  report  shows  a  fine  spirit  of  pioneer  indepen- 
dence on  the  part  of  the  people.  Their  homes  were 
already  heavily  mortgaged,  and  every  one  of  these 
counties  had  placed  itself  very  heavily  in  debt  in  or- 
der to  help  its  farmers.  They  were  unable  to  do 
more.  All  the  people  now  asked,  however,  was  a 
temporary  loan  from  the  State  with  which  to  buy 
grain  to  sow  their  fields.  The  committee  recom- 
mended a  loan  of  $100,000  for  seed,  $15,000  for  feed 
for  horses  and  stock,  and  $5,000  for  expenses  in  con- 
nection with  the  purchase  and  distribution  of  this 
grain.4*8 

The  General  Assembly  responded  to  this  recom- 
mendation with  an  appropriation  of  $50,000,  or  as 
much  of  it  as  might  be  necessary,  to  be  distributed 
by  three  commissioners  appointed  by  the  Governor 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate.  This 
money  was  to  be  applied  in  the  purchase  of  such 
seed,  grain,  and  vegetables  as  might  be  deemed 
necessary.  The  commissioners  were  to  file  with  the 
State  Auditor  an  affidavit  to  faithfully  and  impar- 
tially perform  their  duties,  and  a  bond  in  the  sum  of 
$40,000  with  good  and  sufficient  sureties  to  be  ap- 
proved by  the  district  court  in  the  county  where  each 
commissioner  resided.  They  were  given  power  to 
make  such  rules  and  regulations  and  to  appoint  such 
assistants  as  they  deemed  necessary,  and  to  admin- 


BELIEF  FOR  VICTIMS  OF  CALAMITY       295 

ister  oaths  and  examine  persons  concerning  any  fact 
which  they  thought  necessary  to  the  proper  dis- 
charge of  their  duties.  They  were  required  to  make 
bills  in  triplicate  for  all  articles  purchased,  and  to 
file  one  copy  with  the  Auditor  of  State  and  one 
with  the  auditor  of  the  county  in  which  the  distribu- 
tion was  made.  For  this  work  they  were  to  be  paid 
three  dollars  a  day  and  actual  expenses,  and  a  full 
report  was  to  be  made  to  the  Governor  on  or  before 
June  1, 1874.449 

The  details  in  this  instance  have  been  presented 
thus  minutely  in  order  to  point  out  clearly  the  meth- 
od of  procedure  which  was  followed.  An  example  of 
different  method  of  relief  is  to  be  found  in  the  proc- 
lamation of  Governor  Boies  on  July  7,  1893,  asking 
the  citizens  of  Iowa  to  contribute  money  for  the  suf- 
ferers from  the  tornado  at  Pomeroy.  In  this  case 
the  money  was  not  expended  under  State  auspices, 
but  by  the  Pomeroy  Relief  Committee,  a  local  or- 
ganization.450 

These  two  instances  will  be  sufficient  to  show  the 
methods  by  which  special  exigencies  for  relief  have 
been  met  by  public  authorities  in  the  State  of  Iowa. 
There  have  been  other  visitations  of  pest  and  storm, 
but  for  the  most  part  private  individuals  through 
non-public  agencies,  or  the  counties  concerned  have 
been  able  to  handle  the  situation  without  State  aid. 
The  experience  of  Iowa,  therefore,  is  not  especially 
illuminating  on  the  subject  of  the  relief  of  poverty 
due  to  special  calamity. 


XVII 
STATE  CONTROL  OF  POOR  RELIEF 

Iowa  inherited  from  other  jurisdictions  the  system 
of  local  relief  of  the  poor,  and  during  the  first  fifty 
years  that  system  was  dominant.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  State  control  of  the  relief  of  the  poor  in  any 
adequate  sense  of  the  term  has  not  yet  arrived  in 
Iowa. 

Until  the  early  seventies  there  were,  in  the  re- 
ports of  the  legislative  or  administrative  officers  of 
the  State,  scarcely  any  suggestions  of  the  necessity 
of  State  control.  A  first  step  in  the  direction  of  such 
control  was  the  appointment  of  a  Visiting  Committee 
for  the  Insane  Hospitals.  This  committee  was  pro- 
vided for  by  an  act  approved  on  April  23, 1872,431  and 
was  limited  in  its  power  strictly  to  the  State  Insane 
Asylums.  Even  this  beginning  had  elicited  lively 
discussion  in  the  legislature,  Governor  Carpenter  as- 
serted, and  when  finally  enacted  into  law  it  was  with 
some  reluctance,  he  confessed,  that  he  gave  it  his  ap- 
proval. After  two  years  of  operation,  however,  he 
admitted  that  the  work  of  the  committee  had  vindi- 
cated the  wisdom  of  the  law.452 

The  first  bill  introduced  into  the  legislature  for  a 
more  comprehensive  State  supervision  was  one  pre- 
sented by  Mr.  George  M.  Wilson  on  February  17, 

296 


STATE  CONTROL  OF  POOR  RELIEF          297 

1874,  providing  for  the  creation  of  a  Board  of  Char- 
ities and  prescribing  its  duties.  The  bill  was  re- 
ferred to  a  special  committee  which  reported  it  back 
with  certain  amendments.  Section  14  of  this  bill  pro- 
vided that  the  creation  of  the  board  should  preclude 
the  necessity  of  the  appointment  of  visiting  commit- 
tees to  the  institutions  other  than  such  as  might  be 
created  and  clothed  with  special  power  by  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly.  The  bill,  however,  was  indefinitely 
postponed.453 

The  Visiting  Committee  to  the  Insane  Hospitals 
in  its  report  to  the  Governor  on  November  30, 1875, 
suggested  that  its  powers  be  extended  so  as  to  give 
to  all  the  State  institutions  the  right  of  State  super- 
vision which  the  insane  hospitals  had.  As  an  alter- 
native to  this  suggestion,  the  Visiting  Committee 
proposed  a  similar  committee  for  each  class  of  in- 
stitutions, or,  as  another  alternative,  the  creation  of 
a  board  of  charities  which  should  include  within  its 
powers  the  visitation  not  only  of  the  State  charitable 
institutions,  but  also  of  the  jails  and  poorhouses  and 
the  collection  of  information  for  the  legislature  con- 
cerning "the  extent  and  nature  of  the  various  de- 
partments of  the  state  and  county  aid  and  char- 
ities."454 

The  suggestion  of  the  committee  as  to  the  enlarge- 
ment of  its  powers  so  as  to  form  a  kind  of  board  of 
charities  was  heartily  seconded  by  Governor  Car- 
penter in  his  second  biennial  message  in  1876.455  Two 
years  later  Governor  Gear  in  his  first  inaugural  ad- 
dress suggested  the  establishment  of  a  board  of 


298      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

charities  whose  duties  should  be  to  see  to  the  con- 
struction and  repairing  of  all  the  State  buildings  de- 
voted to  charitable  purposes,  examine  into  their  con- 
dition from  time  to  time,  report  on  these  matters  to 
each  General  Assembly,  and  make  recommendations 
relative  to  the  needs  and  management  of  the  institu- 
tions. In  favor  of  this  plan,  he  argued  that  it  would 
do  away  with  the  necessity  for  the  appointment  of 
visiting  committees  at  each  session  and  that  the 
States  which  had  adopted  such  a  plan  had  found  it  to 
work  beneficially  and  in  the  interests  of  economy.456 
By  1880  Governor  Gear  had  turned  from  the  idea  of 
a  board  of  charities  to  a  board  of  control.  This 
change  on  the  Governor's  part  was  made  on  the 
ground  that  the  board  of  control  would  be  more 
economical  than  a  board  of  charities  such  as  was 
common  in  other  States.  This  suggestion  was  in  line 
with  the  Governor's  well-known  emphasis  upon  the 
necessity  of  economy  in  the  support  and  control  of 
the  charitable  institutions.457 

Two  years  later,  in  his  second  biennial  message 
(1882)  on  the  strength  of  a  report  by  Dr.  Margaret 
A.  Cleaves  of  Davenport,  whom  he  had  appointed  as 
a  delegate  to  the  National  Conference  of  Charities 
and  Correction,  Governor  Gear  returned  to  the  idea 
of  a  State  board  of  charities.  He  added,  however, 
that  the  powers  of  such  a  board  should  include  the 
supervision  of  poorhouses  and  jails,  as  well  as  the 
oversight  of  the  charitable  and  penal  institutions  of 
the  State.458  This  is  the  first  official  suggestion  that 
a  State  board  should  include  within  its  powers  the 


STATE  CONTROL  OF  POOR  RELIEF          299 

supervision  of  the  State  penal  institutions.  Nothing, 
however,  came  of  these  various  suggestions.  The 
Visiting  Committee  to  the  Insane  Hospitals  was  con- 
tinued ;  and  each  of  the  State  institutions  continued 
to  have  its  own  board  of  trustees,  while  the  county 
jails  and  poorhouses  were  left  unsupervised  by 
State  officials. 

For  ten  years  there  is  no  reference  in  the  official 
documents  of  the  State  to  the  subject  of  State  con- 
trol, or  until,  in  his  first  biennial  message  of  January 
12,  1892,  Governor  Boies  again  recurred  to  the  idea. 
The  Governor  urged  the  creation  of  a  State  board  of 
some  kind  either  to  control  the  State  institutions  or 
to  oversee  them,  basing  his  arguments  on  the  undue 
amount  of  expense  entailed  by  the  maintenance  of  a 
separate  board  for  each  institution  and  the  Visiting 
Committee  to  the  Insane  Hospitals.459  Two  years 
later  Governor  Boies  again  mentioned  the  matter, 
but  placed  the  emphasis  upon  a  board  of  control 
which  he  thought  should  occasionally  visit  the  county 
institutions.460 

Governor  Jackson,  in  January,  1896,  once  more 
brought  this  matter  to  the  attention  of  the  legisla- 
ture but  urged  that  the  powers  of  the  Visiting  Com- 
mittee be  enlarged  to  include  visitation  of  the  Institu- 
tion for  Feeble-minded  Children  and  all  private  in- 
stitutions in  which  insane  were  kept,  all  poorhouses 
and  county  asylums  for  the  insane,  and  all  jails,461 
In  this  same  message  he  argued  against  the  plan  of 
establishing  a  board  of  control,  urging  chiefly  that 
the  institutions  had  been  managed  so  long  without 


300      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

scandal  and  by  people  who  had  made  a  special  study 
of  each  institution  and  who  gave  their  sole  atten- 
tion to  the  subject  and  therefore  were  more  expert  in 
the  management  of  that  institution  than  any  board 
could  possibly  be  in  the  management  of  all  the  insti- 
tutions of  the  State.482  Here  the  voice  of  reaction 
first  found  its  official  expression ;  but  Governor  Jack- 
son was  not  alone  in  that  opinion.  His  successor  in 
the  Governor's  chair  held  the  same  views :  Governor 
Drake  in  his  message  in  1898  recommended  that  the 
powers  of  the  Visiting  Committee  to  the  Insane  Hos- 
pitals be  so  enlarged  as  to  control  every  hospital  and 
asylum  for  the  insane  and  all  poorhouses.  More- 
over, he  argued  in  favor  of  the  existing  plurality  of 
boards  in  the  management  of  the  State  institutions 
with  the  modification  that  each  kind  of  institution, 
like  the  various  insane  hospitals,  might  well  be  un- 
der the  control  of  a  single  board.463  But  the  informa- 
tional dynamite  to  blow  this  bit  of  reactionary  medi- 
ae valism  to  fragments  was  even  then  in  the  hands  of 
a  legislative  committee. 

At  the  special  session  of  the  Twenty-sixth  General 
Assembly  there  had  been  appointed  a  joint  commit- 
tee to  examine  the  various  State  institutions  and 
make  a  report.  This  committee  found  very  irregular 
conditions  prevailing  in  some  of  the  institutions, 
showing  wastefulness,  if  not  something  more  serious 
in  some  cases.  The  report  to  the  Senate  showed  very 
clearly  that  the  statements  of  Governor  Jackson  and 
Governor  Drake  had  no  foundation  in  fact.  Indeed, 
the  report  showed  that  the  system  in  existence  at 


STATE  CONTROL  OF  POOR  RELIEF          301 

that  time  was  anything  but  economical,  that  in  many 
cases  position  on  the  board  of  trustees  of  a  State  in- 
stitution was  largely  honorary,  and  that  service  upon 
these  boards  had  not  resulted  in  giving  the  members 
of  the  boards  more  knowledge  about  that  particular 
institution  with  which  they  happened  to  be  connected 
than  was  possessed  by  the  average  citizen.  The  out- 
come of  the  committee's  findings  was  the  recom- 
mendation that  the  system  then  in  vogue  give  way 
to  a  board  of  control  in  charge  of  all  the  State  insti- 
tutions.464 This  report,  known  as  the  Healy  Report, 
was  the  most  searching  investigation  ever  made  of 
the  State  charitable  and  penal  institutions  in  the  his- 
tory of  Iowa.  All  that  was  needed  to  show  up  the 
faults  of  the  old  system  was  a  careful  test  of  effi- 
ciency. Yet  the  methods  condemned  by  this  com- 
mittee, at  least  in  part,  had  been  in  common  use  for 
years. 

So  important  is  this  report  that  a  summary  of  its 
findings  will  not  be  out  of  place  at  this  point.  The 
committee,  after  viewing  the  whole  situation,  de- 
cided not  to  suggest  specific  changes  in  the  laws  gov- 
erning the  institutions,  for  the  reason  that  the  great- 
er number  of  the  amendments  which  they  would  be 
obliged  to  propose  could  only  properly  form  a  part 
of  a  measure  creating  a  central  or  ,  supervisaty 
board.  In  their  judgment  the  difficulties  were  in- 
herent in  the  system  as  it  then  existed.  They  found 
no  uniform  method  in  the  purchasing  of  supplies; 
they  found  different  funds  intermingled  in  violation 
of  the  law ;  at  many  of  the  institutions  there  was  no 


302      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

auditing  of  the  bills  and  at  others  the  auditing  oc- 
curred only  after  the  bills  had  been  paid;  different 
salaries  were  paid  for  the  same  kind  of  work;  ap- 
propriations were  asked  of  and  secured  from  the 
legislature  on  ex  parte  statements;  and  in  many 
cases  the  appropriations  were  expended  in  such  a 
manner  that  it  was  impossible  to  tell  whether  they 
had  been  used  in  a  manner  agreeable  to  the  legisla- 
tive intent.  There  was,  furthermore,  very  little  con- 
tinuity of  purpose  to  be  found  in  the  appropriations 
for  many  of  the  institutions ;  while  there  was  a  lack 
of  the  proper  mutuality  of  interest  between  the  dif- 
ferent institutions,  with  a  consequent  reciprocal  dis- 
trust and  a  disposition  in  many  cases  to  regard  the 
legislature  as  a  hostile  body. 

In  this  report,  moreover,  the  committee  proposed 
that  the  statute  should  be  so  amended  that  the  sup- 
port fund  should  not  be  drawn  until  it  was  required 
by  the  institution;  that  the  State  Treasurer  should 
be  authorized  to  dispose  of  all  warrants  issued  to  the 
institutions  for  the  payment  of  which  the  State  had 
no  ready  funds ;  and  that  the  per  capita  support  be 
reduced.  The  committee  believed  that  a  more  eco- 
nomical management  so  as  to  reduce  the  per  capita 
allowance  for  support  purposes  for  the  institutions 
would  largely  do  away  with  county  care  of  the  in- 
sane. Their  argument  was  that  if  the  people  and 
the  members  of  boards  of  supervisors  were  once  con- 
vinced that  the  per  capita  allowance  for  insane  was 
not  greater  than  was  actually  required  in  the  county 


STATE  CONTROL  OF  POOR  RELIEF          303 

institutions,  then  such  county  institutions  would  not 
be  built. 

Again,  the  committee  believed  that  the  Visiting 
Committee  to  the  Insane  Hospitals  spent  more  time 
at  the  work  than  was  actually  necessary.  This  con- 
stituted another  argument  for  a  central  supervising 
body.  They  further  recommended  the  establishment 
of  a  uniform  system  of  accounts  —  which  could  bet- 
ter be  brought  about  under  central  supervision.  Tax 
levies  for  State  institutions,  they  recommended, 
should  be  discouraged,  as  also  the  precedent  of  one 
General  Assembly  making  appropriations  for  an  in- 
stitution covering  a  period  longer  than  two  years. 

After  due  regard  for  all  the  facts  and  conditions 
prevailing  in  the  State  institutions,  the  committee 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  system  of  having  a 
separate  board  of  trustees  for  each  of  the  institu- 
tions or  for  each  class  of  institutions  in  the  State  was 
both  wasteful  and  inefficient.  A  change  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  these  institutions  was  not  only  advisable, 
but  imperatively  demanded.  They  were  convinced 
that  whatever  success  had  attended  the  public  insti- 
tutions of  the  State  had  come  in  spite  of  the  methods 
and  practices  then  existing.  That  the  method  was 
not  economical  was  shown  by  the  fact  that  during  the 
previous  biennial  period  seventy  percent  of  the  total 
expenditures  of  the  State  was  for  these  various 
State  institutions  —  a  sum  which  was  entirely  be- 
yond their  proper  share  of  the  income  of  the  State. 
To  show  that  the  method  then  in  vogue  was  ineffi- 


304      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

cient,  they  cited  the  fact  that  the  trustees  of  one  in- 
stitution were  entire  strangers  to  those  having 
charge  of  another  institution.  They  demonstrated, 
furthermore,  that  two-thirds  of  the  members  of  the 
various  boards  of  trustees  had  no  such  intimate 
knowledge  of  their  institutions  as  was  necessary  to 
enable  them  to  be  of  any  value  in  their  management. 
As  a  result  the  superintendents  or  their  subordinates 
really  conducted  the  institutions. 

The  committee  stated  that  there  was  no  other 
State  in  the  Union  which  governed  its  public  institu- 
tions by  separate  boards  without  a  supervising  au- 
thority lodged  in  some  board  of  control  or  board  of 
charities  and  correction.  On  inquiry  they  found  that 
Wisconsin,  Rhode  Island,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  and 
South  Dakota,  each  governed  their  institutions  by  a 
board  of  control.  Of  the  States  which  had  once 
adopted  the  system  of  supervision  by  a  board  of  con- 
trol, but  one  had  changed  the  system;  while  those 
which  retained  the  boards  claimed  that  they  had 
proved  very  satisfactory.  Those  Commonwealths 
which  did  not  have  boards  of  control  had  supervising 
boards  such  as  a  board  of  charity,  as  in  Illinois  and 
New  York. 

The  committee  found,  furthermore,  that  there  was 
no  disposition  on  the  part  of  those  closely  connected 
with  the  institutions  to  institute  or  agitate  a  change, 
nor  was  there  any  disposition  on  the  part  of  present 
or  former  members  of  the  legislature  to  criticize  the 
conduct  of  institutions  in  their  communities,  even 
though  they  knew  that  abuses  existed.  The  commit- 


STATE  CONTROL  OF  POOR  RELIEF          305 

tee  therefore  recommended  that  the  State  provide 
for  a  board  of  control  which  should  be  clothed  with 
large  administrative  and  executive  powers,  and  not 
merely  an  advisory  body.  They  recommended  that 
the  board  be  so  chosen  that  partisan  politics  should 
not  enter  into  the  management  or  the  selection  of  the 
officers  of  the  various  institutions.  It  was  believed 
that  the  establishment  of  such  a  board  would  result 
in  a  very  great  decrease  in  the  charges  upon  the 
State  and  a  much  greater  efficiency  in  the  manage- 
ment of  the  State 's  institutions. 

Two  of  the  members  of  this  committee,  Mr. 
Thomas  D.  Healy  and  Mr.  Claude  B.  Porter,  believed 
that  the  three  great  educational  institutions  might 
well  be  omitted  from  the  list  of  institutions  placed 
under  the  proposed  board  of  control.  Mr.  Frank  F. 
Merriam,  on  the  other  hand,  could  see  no  reason  why 
the  educational  institutions  should  not  be  placed 
under  the  control  of  this  board  as  well  as  the  char- 
itable and  correctional  institutions. 

The  recommendations  of  the  committee  were 
adopted  in  almost  every  respect.  The  legislature 
accepted  Mr.  Merriam 's  view  of  the  situation  and 
in  drafting  the  law  placed  the  educational,  as  well  as 
the  other  institutions,  partially  under  the  Board  of 
Control  —  a  proceeding,  however,  which  was  recti- 
fied after  a  few  years. 

At  this  same  session  of  the  General  Assembly  a 
joint  resolution  was  proposed  in  the  Senate  creating 
a  commission  to  investigate  the  poorhouses  and  other 
places  in  which  the  insane  were  kept,  and  to  report 


306      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

on  the  question  as  to  whether  insane  should  be  kept 
at  county  or  at  State  expense  and  under  State  care.465 
After  the  passage  of  the  bill  creating  the  Board  of 
Control,  however,  a  substitute  resolution  was  offered 
placing  this  investigation  in  the  hands  of  the 
Board.466 

The  act  creating  the  Board  of  Control  was  ap- 
proved on  March  26,  1898.  It  provided  that  the 
Board  composed  of  three  members,  appointed  by  the 
Governor  with  the  consent  of  the  Senate  for  a  term 
of  six  years  each,  should  take  over  the  management 
and  control  of  the  Soldiers'  Home,  the  charitable, 
reformatory,  and  penal  institutions  of  the  State,  pro- 
vide for  supervision  over  the  governing  boards  of 
the  State  educational  institutions,  recommend  ap- 
propriations for  the  institutions  under  their  care, 
and  define  certain  offenses  and  provide  penalties 
therefor.  The  members  were  each  to  receive  a  salary 
of  three  thousand  dollars  a  year,  and  were  remov- 
able by  the  Governor  with  the  consent  of  the  Senate 
for  malfeasance  or  nonfeasance  in  office,  or  for  any 
cause  that  rendered  them  ineligible  to  appointment 
or  incapable  or  unfit  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the 
office. 

The  Board  of  Control  was  given  full  power  to  man- 
age, control,  and  govern,  subject  only  to  the  limita- 
tions of  this  act,  the  Soldiers'  Home,  the  State  Hos- 
pitals for  the  Insane,  the  College  for  the  Blind,  the 
School  for  the  Deaf,  the  Institution  for  Feeble-mind- 
ed Children,  the  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home,  the  In- 
dustrial Home  for  the  Blind  (since  abandoned),  the 


STATE  CONTROL  OF  POOR  RELIEF          307 

Industrial  School  in  both  departments,  and  the  State 
penitentiaries.  It  was  vested  with  all  of  the  powers 
relative  to  these  institutions  hitherto  exercised  by 
the  various  boards  of  trustees  which  it  superseded 
and  by  the  Governor  and  the  Executive  Council. 
This  was  not  intended,  however,  as  a  limitation  upon 
the  general  supervisory  or  examining  powers  vested 
in  the  Governor  by  the  laws  or  Constitution  of  the 
State,  or  upon  any  committee  appointed  by  him. 
The  Board  was  to  make  a  biennial  report  to  the  Gov- 
ernor and  legislature  embodying  its  observations  and 
conclusions  respecting  each  and  every  institution 
named;  and  furthermore,  was  to  recommend  to  the 
General  Assembly  at  each  session  desirable  changes 
in  the  legislation  affecting  the  charitable  and  correc- 
tional institutions  of  the  State. 

Other  significant  powers  of  the  Board  were  au- 
thority to  investigate  the  question  of  the  insanity  of 
any  person  committed  to  any  State  hospital ;  to  col- 
lect information  concerning  the  experience  of  any  of 
these  institutions  either  in  Iowa  or  in  any  other  State 
and  have  it  printed;  and  to  encourage  the  scientific 
investigation  and  treatment  of  insanity  and  epilepsy 
in  the  Hospitals  for  the  Insane  and  the  Institution 
for  Feeble-minded  Children,  and  publish  the  results 
from  time  to  time.  In  addition,  they  were  to  investi- 
gate the  work  of  the  boards  of  regents  of  the  educa- 
tional institutions  of  the  State.  This  power,  how- 
ever, was  of  no  importance  in  this  connection;  and 
furthermore,  a  separate  board  was  later  organized 
for  these  institutions.467 


308      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

In  the  act  creating  the  Board  of  Control  there  was 
no  provision  for  its  supervision  of  any  county  insti- 
tutions. At  once,  however,  the  members  of  the  Board 
saw  that  it  was  necessary  for  them  to  know  what 
care  the  insane  were  receiving  in  the  county  and  pri- 
vate institutions.  They,  therefore,  proceeded  to  look 
into  conditions  in  nineteen  of  the  county  poorhouses 
and  insane  asylums.  What  they  found  has  been  al- 
luded to  in  the  chapter  dealing  with  the  care  of  in- 
digent defectives.488  The  conditions  there  led  the 
Board  to  recommend  that  it  be  given  authority  to 
supervise  and  control  to  a  considerable  extent  the 
county  and  private  institutions  caring  for  the  in- 
sane.469 

The  Twenty-eighth  General  Assembly,  to  which  the 
Board  made  its  first  report,  heeded  its  recommenda- 
tions and  gave  it  supervision  over  all  county  and 
private  institutions  in  which  insane  were  kept.  The 
Board  was  authorized  to  send  a  visitor  twice  a  year 
to  each  of  these  institutions,  and  to  make  rules  and 
regulations  for  their  government.  It  was  empow- 
ered to  remove  to  the  State  asylum  at  the  expense  of 
the  county  concerned  any  patient  in  the  county  asy- 
lum, if  his  case  was  acute  and  if  they  believed  that  he 
would  receive  better  care  in  a  State  institution.  The 
Board  could  also  remove  chronic  cases  from  the 
,State  institutions  to  the  county  asylums,  but  only 
after  obtaining  the  consent  of  the  immediate  rela- 
tives of  the  patient,  if  he  had  any,  or  the  consent  of 
the  commissioners  of  insanity  of  the  county  con- 
cerned.470 


STATE  CONTROL  OF  POOR  RELIEF          309 

Moreover,  in  addition  to  the  duties  laid  down  by 
the  act  creating  the  Board  of  Control,  it  was  later 
given  certain  additional  powers.  The  Twenty-ninth 
General  Assembly,  in  an  act  approved  on  April  10, 
1902,  gave  it  control  of  all  homes  receiving  children 
to  be  placed  out  or  cared  for.471  This  same  General 
Assembly  put  the  Hospital  for  the  Inebriates  under 
the  control  of  the  same  Board.472  The  Thirtieth  Gen- 
eral Assembly  gave  the  Board  power  to  designate 
and  appprove  the  institutions  and  associations  in  the 
State  having  charge  of  juveniles  under  the  Juvenile 
Court  Act,  and  to  visit,  and  to  have  oversight  and 
supervision  over  such  homes  and  associations.473  An 
act  of  the  Thirty-first  General  Assembly  granted  the 
Board  authority  to  appoint  two  State  agents  for  the 
Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home  and  for  the  Industrial 
Schools,  whose  duty  it  should  be  to  look  after  the 
placing  out  of  children  from  these  institutions.474 
By  another  law  of  the  same  session  the  Board  was 
charged  with  the  care  and  disposition  of  the  non- 
resident insane.475  Again,  by  a  law  of  the  Thirty- 
third  General  Assembly  the  Board  was  authorized  to 
investigate  any  charges  of  abuse,  neglect,  or  other 
misconduct  made  against  the  conduct  of  any  officer 
concerned  with  the  management  of  any  county  or 
private  institution  in  which  the  insane  were  kept  or 
against  any  association  or  society  coming  within  the 
provisions  of  the  sections  of  the  Code  Supplement  of 
1907  concerning  institutions  which  received  and 
cared  for  children.476 

The  activity  of  the  Board  of  Control  in  regulating 


310      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

institutions  which  had  hitherto  been  unregulated 
gave  rise  to  considerable  criticism.  Governor  Car- 
roll, in  his  second  biennial  message  in  January,  1911, 
took  cognizance  of  this  criticism  and  recommended 
that  a  special  committee  in  each  house  be  appointed 
by  the  legislature  to  consider  Board  of  Control  mat- 
ters. These  criticisms  related  largely,  however,  to 
the  Board's  methods  in  purchasing  supplies,477  and 
did  not  affect  the  Board  injuriously  in  any  way. 

There  had  been  a  contention  for  some  time  that 
the  School  for  the  Deaf  and  the  College  for  the  Blind 
were  in  no  sense  of  the  term  either  charitable  or  cor- 
rectional institutions  and  should  therefore  not  be 
under  the  regulation  of  the  Board  of  Control.  After 
the  educational  institutions  of  the  State  were  put 
under  the  control  of  the  newly  organized  State  Board 
of  Education,  the  reason  for  keeping  these  two  in- 
stitutions under  the  supervision  of  the  Board  of  Con- 
trol ceased  to  exist.  Accordingly,  the  Thirty-fourth 
General  Assembly  removed  the  College  for  the  Blind 
from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Board  of  Control  and 
placed  it  under  the  supervision  of  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation.478 

Finally,  the  Thirty-fifth  General  Assembly  made 
a  number  of  changes  in  the  law  regulating  the  pow- 
ers of  the  Board  of  Control.  In  an  act  approved  on 
March  25,  1913,  it  was  given  the  authority  to  trans- 
fer insane  persons  from  State  to  county  institutions 
in  cases  where  they  are  public  patients,  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  county  supervisors  or  the  county  commis- 
sioners of  insanity ;  but  if  the  persons  to  be  removed 


STATE  CONTROL  OF  POOR  RELIEF          311 

are  supported  by  relatives  or  guardians,  this  trans- 
fer can  not  be  made  without  the  written  consent  of 
such  relatives  or  guardians.  It  furthermore  pro- 
vided that  no  uncured  patient  could  be  discharged 
from  the  State  Hospital  for  the  Insane  without  the 
consent  of  the  Board  of  Control.  The  act  makes  the 
powers  of  the  county  supervisors  coordinate  with 
those  of  the  county  commissioners  of  insanity  in  re- 
ceiving to  the  county  asylum  the  insane  patients  in 
the  State  hospitals  whom  the  Board  of  Control 
wished  to  transfer  to  county  institutions,  and  made  it 
perfectly  plain  that  no  superintendent  of  a  State 
Hospital  for  the  Insane  or  a  county  board  of  insanity 
commissioners  or  any  other  board  could  discharge 
an  uncured  patient  from  a  State  institution  without 
the  consent  of  the  Board  of  Control.479  Further- 
more, the  last  General  Assembly  placed  under  the 
Board  of  Control  the  State  Colony  for  Epileptics 
created  at  that  legislative  session.480  The  Board  was 
also  given  control  over  the  admission  of  certain  des- 
ignated dependent  persons  into  the  Soldiers'  Home 
and  of  persons  from  twenty-one  to  thirty-five  years 
of  age  to  the  School  for  the  Deaf  to  receive  an  educa- 
tion at  the  expense  of  the  State.481 

One  further  step  was  taken  by  the  Thirty-fifth 
General  Assembly  for  the  purpose  of  controlling  the 
solicitation  of  funds  for  charitable  purposes.  An  as- 
sociation which  solicits  public  donations  in  the  State 
is  required  to  file  with  the  Secretary  of  State  a 
statement  giving  its  name,  its  location,  and  the 
names  of  its  principal  officers  and  soliciting  agents. 


312      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

If  the  Secretary  of  State  is  satisfied  that  this  state- 
ment is  sufficient  evidence  that  the  money  so  collected 
is  to  be  used  for  the  purposes  represented,  he  is  to 
issue  to  the  association  without  expense  a  State  li- 
cense authorizing  it  to  solicit  donations. 

Thus  gradually  from  insignificant  beginnings 
State  control  of  certain  institutions  dealing  with  the 
relief  of  poverty  has  developed,  but  the  development 
is  still  incomplete.  Its  course  has  been  uncertain 
and  in  no  sense  comprehensive.  It  began  with  the 
State  institutions  for  the  care  of  indigent  defectives 
where  the  State  was  in  control  of  these  institutions 
from  their  very  inception.  It  was  furthered  when 
provision  was  made  for  the  State  care  of  the  soldier 
and  his  orphans  and  later  his  widow.  It  has  been 
extended  gradually  to  State  supervision  of  county 
and  private  care  of  two  classes  of  dependents, 
namely,  the  insane  and  children ;  and  there  it  seems 
to  have  been  arrested  for  the  present. 

Often  during  the  history  of  Iowa  it  has  been  urged 
by  Governors,  visiting  committees,  and  others  in  a 
position  to  know  the  situation  with  respect  to  the  re- 
sults of  local  methods  of  the  poor  relief  that  a  board 
of  charities  should  be  appointed  to  supervise  the 
poorhouses.  To-day  only  those  poorhouses  which 
contain  insane  persons  have  inspection  at  the  hands 
of  the  Board  of  Control,  while  as  for  outdoor  relief, 
there  is  absolutely  no  attempt  at  State  supervision. 

The  county  insane  asylums  have  been  under  the 
supervision  of  the  State  Board  of  Control  for  more 


STATE  CONTROL  OF  POOR  RELIEF          313 

than  a  dozen  years.  This  supervision  and  regulation 
has  without  controversy  been  of  inestimable  service 
in  bringing  up  the  standards  of  comfort  and  decency 
in  these  county  institutions.  And  yet,  they  represent 
by  no  means  what  the  State  of  Iowa  should  do  for 
this  unfortunate  class  of  dependents.  Patients  in 
these  institutions  do  not  have  the  expert  care  which 
they  deserve ;  they  lack  the  comforts  in  many  cases 
which  a  State  institution  could  afford;  they  are  not 
looked  after  except  to  provide  the  merest  means  of 
physical  existence ;  and  they  are  immured  in  an  in- 
stitution which,  if  not  an  integral  part  of  the 
"county  home"  is  yet  in  the  same  yard  and  essen- 
tially a  part  of  the  same  plant  and  governed  in  most 
counties  by  about  the  same  authorities. 

The  conditions  in  the  county  poorhouses  are  even 
worse.  Filled  with  hopeless  wrecks  who  are  cared 
for  through  the  stingy  "bounty"  of  the  counties, 
neglected  and  shunned  by  all  who  are  not  paid  to 
look  after  them,  and  ministered  to  by  a  class  of  per- 
sons whose  only  qualifications  too  often  are  merely 
kind  hearts  and  the  ability  to  run  the  farm  and  the 
"home"  as  economically  as  possible,482  certainly  the 
county  homes  need  State  supervision.  In  spite  of 
recommendations  many  times  repeated  by  all  sorts 
of  officers,  committees,  and  organizations  who  have 
studied  the  question,  Iowa  has  not  given  the  county 
poorhouses  even  such  supervision  as  the  Board  of 
Control  with  its  multitudinous  duties  could  give. 
They  are  left  uncontrolled,  unless  they  have  insane 
inmates,  by  any  other  authorities  than  those  whose 


314      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

chief  interest  is  to  make  them  cost  as  little  as  pos- 
sible to  the  taxpayers  of  the  county.  This  body  of 
men,  however  sincere  and  kind-hearted  they  may  be, 
are  not  usually  acquainted  with  the  best  methods  of 
caring  for  the  poor.  They  are  concerned  with  other 
and  more  pressing  affairs  of  the  county,  such  as 
roads,  bridges,  and  concerns  of  more  interest  to  the 
average  voter  than  the  care  of  paupers.  They  will 
not  do  their  full  duty  by  the  poor  in  most  cases 
simply  because  they  do  not  know  what  it  is,  and  be- 
cause the  other  interests  of  the  county  have  first  con- 
sideration in  their  thoughts.  There  is  needed  a  su- 
pervising body  of  State  experts  in  these  matters  who 
have  given  the  subject  of  the  relief  of  the  poor  some 
study,  seeking  to  learn  the  best  methods  employed 
elsewhere  in  the  world  and  making  practical  applica- 
tion of  these  methods  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  of 
Iowa. 

Badly  as  this  oversight  is  needed  in  connection 
with  the  poorhouses,  it  is  needed  even  worse  in  the 
outdoor  relief  of  the  poor.  No  one  has  claimed  that 
the  poorhouse  as  conducted  in  Iowa  pauperizes  the 
poor,  except  in  the  case  of  some  of  the  larger  ones 
near  large  cities  where  the  vagrants  congregate. 
The  charge  to  which  the  poorhouse  is  open  is  rather 
that  of  neglect.  In  the  case  of  outdoor  methods  of 
relief,  not  only  are  the  poor  neglected  in  some  cases 
and  treated  without  due  consideration  of  what  they 
really  need,  but  they  are  pauperized  in  many  in- 
stances. Either  there  is  pauperization  or  else  there 
is  such  neglect  that  private  philanthropy  must  needs 


STATE  CONTROL  OF  POOR  RELIEF          315 

come  to  the  rescue  and  piece  out  what  public  relief 
fails  to  supply.  Why  this  paradox?  Simply  because 
outdoor  relief  as  administered  in  most  of  the  larger 
cities  of  Iowa  is  simply  the  giving  of  food,  money,  or 
clothing,  without  consideration  by  the  relief  officers 
of  the  real  needs  of  the  family  to  whom  aid  is  given. 
It  is  as  true  in  the  relief  of  the  poor  as  in  poetry,  that 
"The  gift  without  the  giver  is  bare".  Scientific 
poor  relief  shows  that  it  is  worse  than  that :  the  gift 
without  the  giver  is  positively  demoralizing. 

The  overseers  of  the  poor  are  very  often  old  men 
who  are  given  the  position  seemingly  because  they 
can  not  make  a  living  in  any  other  way;  or  per- 
chance, as  in  some  counties,  they  have  so  many  ap- 
plicants for  relief  that  they  can  not  give  any  time  to 
the  investigation  of  the  applicants ;  and  in  practically 
all  cases  they  are  men  who  have  had  absolutely  no 
training  in  the  methods  of  investigation  and  the 
proper  relief  of  the  poor  which  have  been  devised  by 
those  who  have  long  studied  how  to  give  to  the  poor 
without  pauperizing  them.  In  all  too  many  cases 
they  are  so  jealous  of  the  prestige  of  their  offices  that 
they  refuse  to  turn  over  the  investigation  of  the 
cases  to  the  associated  charities  of  the  city  with  its 
trained  officers  and  investigators,  people  who  have 
been  trained  in  the  use  of  the  best  methods  of  hand- 
ling poor  relief.  The  result  is  that  many  people  who 
could  be  independent  are  receiving  relief  and  coming 
to  lose  their  capacity  for  independence  and  to  look 
upon  relief  as  a  right  which  the  community  owes 
them;  while  the  really  deserving  do  not  receive  re- 


316      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

lief,  or  if  they  do,  they  receive  it  in  a  way  which 
further  demoralizes  instead  of  rehabilitates  them. 

What  is  needed  is  some  plan  whereby  the  con- 
science of  the  local  board  of  supervisors  will  be 
quickened.  One  of  the  first  requirements  is  that 
they  shall  come  to  know  what  is  proper  for  the  poor. 
If  their  care  of  the  insane  in  the  poorhouses  has  been 
improved  by  the  supervision  and  regulation  of  the 
county  asylum  by  the  Board  of  Control,  it  is  quite 
probable  that  to  give  this  Board  complete  super- 
vision over  the  poorhouses  would  work  a  similar 
change  in  the  institutions.  Then,  if  in  addition  to 
this,  the  Board  were  charged  with  the  study  and  reg- 
ulation of  out-relief  in  the  homes  of  needy  families, 
it  is  quite  within  the  possibilities  that  they  might  be 
able  to  secure  the  introduction  of  more  effective 
methods  into  the  cities  of  the  State.  Even  overseers 
might  be  brought  to  see  that  relief  of  the  poor  means 
more  than  writing  out  orders  for  doles  of  groceries 
or  coal  and  guessing  at  the  necessities  of  applicants 
and  ministering  to  them  by  absent  treatment.  Possi- 
bly some  greater  measure  of  cooperation  between  or- 
ganized charity  in  the  cities  and  the  public  relief 
officials  might  be  worked  out.  That,  however,  would 
have  to  be  supplemented  by  a  program  which  would 
have  for  its  end  the  securing  of  efficient  public  relief 
officials.  After  all  is  said,  the  problem  is  chiefly  one 
of  the  relief  official.  Adequate  machinery  to  guard 
against  ignorance  in  poor  relief  will  result  in  some 
gain,  but  no  piece  of  machinery  for  the  relief  of  the 
poor  has  ever  yet  been  invented  which  is  proof 
against  ignorance  or  indifference. 


PART  IV 
SUMMARY  AND  SUGGESTIONS 


XVIII 

SUMMARY  OF  THE  PRESENT  SYSTEM  OF 
POOR  RELIEF  IN  IOWA 

The  system  of  poor  relief  employed  in  Iowa  is 
based  upon  the  time-honored  double  system  of  indoor 
and  outdoor  relief.  All  but  four  counties  in  the 
State  —  Crawford,  Emmet,  Ida,  and  Osceola  — 
maintain  county  homes  or  poorhouses,  as  they  were 
formerly  called.483  This  institution  in  each  county  is 
under  the  control  of  the  county  board  of  supervisors. 
If  it  contains  insane  persons  it  is  inspected  about 
twice  each  year  by  a  representative  of  the  State 
Board  of  Control  and  is  subject  to  certain  regula- 
tions of  this  Board.  If  it  contains  no  insane,  there 
is  absolutely  no  provision  for  its  inspection  and  reg- 
ulation by  the  State.  The  poorhouses  of  forty -nine 
of  the  ninety-nine  counties  in  the  State  have  no  in- 
mates who  have  been  adjudged  insane,  and  thus 
these  forty-nine  county  institutions  are  not  subject 
to  any  supervision  aside  from  that  which  they  re- 
ceive from  the  board  of  supervisors.484 

These  institutions  are  in  the  immediate  charge  of 
a  steward.  In  the  ninety-five  institutions  for  the 
year  ending  June  30,  1912,  there  was  a  total  of  1,137 
sane  or  normal  inmates.  In  addition  to  these  there 
were  thirty-six  who  were  held  as  insane,  but  had  not 

319 


320      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

been  so  adjudged,  eight  hundred  and  forty-two  in- 
sane, fifty-seven  blind,  twenty-one  deaf  or  dumb,  two 
hundred  and  eighty-two  feeble-minded,  and  seventy- 
four  epileptics,  or  a  total  of  1,313  defectives.  Thus 
these  institutions  are  refuges  for  defectives  rather 
than  homes  for  the  aged  and  infirm  and  the  poor. 
In  these  institutions,  therefore,  there  is  a  grand  total 
of  2,477  persons,  twenty-eight  of  whom  are  children 
under  fifteen  years  of  age.485 

The  average  salary  of  the  steward  of  these  poor- 
houses  in  1911  and  1912  was  $724 ;  while  the  average 
salary  of  the  matrons  was  $265.486 

Supplementary  to  the  county  poorhouse  as  a  meth- 
od of  relieving  poverty,  is  relief  given  in  the  homes 
of  the  poor.  The  recipients  of  relief  in  their  homes 
may  be  divided  into  three  classes:  first,  soldiers, 
sailors,  and  marines  and  their  families ;  second,  wid- 
ows and  children  who  benefit  from  the  mothers '  pen- 
sion law ;  and  third,  all  others  who,  in  the  discretion 
of  the  board  of  supervisors,  should  not  be  sent  to  the 
poorhouse. 

In  the  first  class  are  all  soldiers,  sailors  and  ma- 
rines and  any  member  of  their  families  who  are  not 
willing  to  go  to  the  Soldiers'  Home  at  Marshalltown, 
or  who  can  not  be  admitted  there  for  any  reason 
whatever.  In  the  second  class  are  all  children  who 
are  orphans  as  defined  by  the  law  and  whose  moth- 
ers, in  the  judgment  of  the  court,  are  the  proper  per- 
sons to  care  for  and  rear  them.  These  are  the  chil- 
dren who  in  an  earlier  period  in  the  history  of  the 
State  would  have  been  bound  out  for  support.  Be- 


SUMMARY  OF  THE  PRESENT  SYSTEM       321 

fore  the  passage  of  the  widows'  pension  law  in  1913, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  probabilities  are  that  the 
mother  would  have  received  some  relief  from  the 
overseer  of  the  poor  or  the  township  trustees,  and 
some  from  private  relief  agencies  in  the  community, 
or  else  her  children  would  have  been  sent  to  some  or- 
phans'  home  to  be  placed  out  if  possible  in  normal 
family  relationships. 

In  the  third  class  belong  all  other  dependents.  It 
includes  those  in  families  who  can  not  quite  support 
themselves  and  who  occasionally  in  winter  or  in  case 
of  sickness  must  have  some  aid  to  supplement  their 
incomes  for  a  short  period.  They  may  be  old  couples 
who  have  been  left  somewhat  destitute  and  have  no 
one  upon  whom  they  may  rely  for  even  a  part  of 
their  support,  or  they  may  be  widows  with  children 
who  for  the  most  part  can  make  a  living.  This  class 
includes  also  those  who  because  of  temporary  sick- 
ness or  accident  to  the  bread-winner,  are  unable  to 
support  themselves.  The  law  in  such  cases  is  in- 
tended to  apply  only  to  those  who  have  family  rela- 
tionships, and  a  limit  is  placed  upon  the  amount  that 
may  be  supplied  to  each  person. 

The  Iowa  law  contemplates  that  any  dependents 
who  have  relatives  shall  be  supported  by  those  rela- 
tives who  stand  in  the  relation  to  the  pauper  of 
father,  mother,  or  children,  primarily ;  and  by  grand- 
parents, if  they  are  able  to  support  the  dependent 
without  personal  labor,  or  by  the  male  grandchildren 
who  are  of  ability  either  by  personal  labor  or  other- 
wise to  contribute  to  the  support  of  the  pauper. 


Dependent  children,  if  illegitimate,  are  to  be  sup- 
ported by  the  putative  father,  if  he  is  known,  or  by 
the  mother,  or  they  may  be  bound  out  or  adopted  or 
sent  to  a  home  approved  by  the  Board  of  Control. 
In  case  both  the  father  and  mother  are  unable  or 
can  not  be  forced  to  support  the  child,  then  he  be- 
comes a  charge  of  the  county.  He  may  be  kept  in 
the  county  poorhouse  or  he  may  be  sent  to  the  State 
Soldiers '  Orphans '  Home  and  be  kept  partly  at  the 
expense  of  the  State  and  partly  at  the  expense  of  the 
county.  If  the  child  is  legitimate  he  is  to  be  sup- 
ported by  the  relatives  before  mentioned,  if  they  are 
able  to  do  so.  If  not,  he  may  be  bound  out  or  placed 
in  some  family  for  adoption  or  committed  to  some 
private  association  or  home  for  orphan  children  ap- 
proved by  the  Board  of  Control,  or  he  may  be  sent  to 
the  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home  at  Davenport.  Since 
the  passage  of  the  mothers'  pension  law,  if  he  has  a 
mother  living  and  she  is  considered  a  proper  person 
to  rear  the  child,  he  may  be  supported  at  the  expense 
of  the  county  in  the  home  of  his  mother.  In  addi- 
tion to  these  measures  the  State  has  a  contributory 
dependency  act  very  comprehensive  in  its  nature, 
providing  for  the  protection  and  support  of  a  child 
by  those  upon  whom  he  is  naturally  dependent  or,  in 
case  they  are  unable,  providing  for  his  support  and 
care  in  one  of  the  ways  mentioned  above. 

If  the  dependent  person  is  feeble-minded  and  has 
not  been  pronounced  so  by  the  proper  authorities,  it 
is  permissible  under  the  Iowa  law  to  send  him  to  a 
poorhouse  for  support.  If  he  is  a  person  below  the 


SUMMARY  OF  THE  PRESENT  SYSTEM       323 

age  of  forty-six  years,  he  may  be  committed  to  the 
State  Institution  for  Feeble-minded  Children  at 
Glenwood.  If  he  is  insane  and  has  not  been  adjudged 
so  by  the  county  commissioners  of  insanity,  he  may 
be  sent  by  the  county  supervisors  to  the  poorhouse. 
Or  if  he  has  been  adjudged  insane  and  has  been  pro- 
nounced incurable,  he  may  be  committed  back  to  the 
poorhouse  of  the  county  from  which  he  came  to  the 
State  hospital  by  the  Board  of  Control,  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  county  supervisors  or  the  county  insanity 
commissioners.  In  case  that  county  has  a  separate 
institution  for  the  insane  he  will  be  cared  for  in  that 
institution,  under  the  supervision  of  the  State  Board 
of  Control.  If,  however,  there  is  no  asylum  for  the 
insane  in  the  county  he  will  be  kept  in  the  poorhouse 
with  the  other  inmates,  perhaps  in  a  separate  ward. 
If  the  dependent  person  is  blind  and  is  above  the 
age  permitting  him  to  be  admitted  to  the  College  for 
the  Blind  at  Vinton,  he  has  no  other  refuge  in  the 
State  of  Iowa  but  the  poorhouse.  If  he  chances  to 
have  family  relationships  he  may  be  supported  from 
the  county  funds  as  any  other  poor  person  in  a  fam- 
ily. A  person  who  is  deaf  and  dumb  or  is  so  deaf  as 
to  be  unable  to  acquire  an  education  in  the  common 
schools,  and  is  between  the  ages  of  five  and  twenty- 
one  or  even  if  he  is  older  than  twenty-one,  but  is  not 
yet  thirty-five,  and  provided  he  can  secure  the  con- 
sent of  the  Board  of  Control,  may  be  sent  to  the 
School  for  the  Deaf  at  Council  Bluffs  at  the  expense 
of  the  State.  An  indigent  epileptic  until  the  last  ses- 
sion of  the  legislature  had  no  legal  refuge  but  the 


324      POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

poorhouse.  When  the  State  Colony  for  Epileptics, 
provided  for  at  the  session  of  the  legislature  in  1913, 
is  opened,  persons  of  this  class  may  be  cared  for  in 
that  institution  on  terms  to  be  determined  by  some 
future  General  Assembly. 

Sick  persons  who  are  unable  to  provide  their  own 
physician  may  be  treated  by  the  county  physician  at 
county  expense.  Moreover,  in  those  counties  which 
have  county  hospitals,  they  may  receive  hospital 
treatment  at  the  expense  of  the  county. 

In  general  it  may  be  said  that  there  is  State  super- 
vision over  the  care  of  dependent  children  provided 
they  are  sent  to  the  State  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home 
or  to  private  orphans'  homes  or  are  placed  out  by 
any  of  these  institutions  just  named,  or  if  they  are  in 
poorhouses  in  which  insane  are  kept.  In  all  other 
cases  whatever  supervision  is  exercised  over  the 
manner  of  their  care  is  at  the  hands  of  the  boards  of 
supervisors  or  their  agents  or  the  judge  of  the  court. 
Dependent  soldiers,  sailors,  and  marines  and  their 
widows  who  are  inmates  of  the  State  Soldiers '  Home 
are  under  the  supervising  care  of  the  State  Board  of 
Control.  Soldiers  relieved  elsewhere  have  no  such 
supervision.  Furthermore,  all  outdoor  relief  is  un- 
supervised  by  the  State,  as  are  also  all  poorhouses 
in  which  there  are  no  insane.  Outdoor  relief  is  ad- 
ministered in  cities  of  the  first  and  second  classes  by 
an  overseer  of  the  poor.  In  other  places  it  is  fur- 
nished by  the  township  trustees.  Supervision  of 
their  work  is  supposed  to  be  given  by  the  county 
supervisors. 


SUMMARY  OF  THE  PRESENT  SYSTEM       325 

Thus  it  is  apparent  that  in  Iowa  there  are  three 
sets  of  agencies  concerned  with  the  relief  of  the 
poor.  Immediately  connected  with  the  relief  are  the 
overseers,  the  township  trustees,  or  the  stewards  of 
the  poor  farms.  Immediately  above  these  officials 
there  are  the  county  supervisors,  who  are  supposed 
to  visit  the  poorhouse  at  least  once  a  month  and  to 
oversee  the  relief  given  by  the  overseers  of  the  poor 
and  the  township  trustees.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
however,  their  practical  function  is  to  give  general 
orders  to  the  overseers  of  the  poor  and  the  township 
trustees  without  very  often  being  called  upon  to  give 
any  specific  direction  as  to  how  the  relief  shall  be  ad- 
ministered. In  the  case  of  certain  classes  of  de- 
pendents certain  functions  are  performed  by  the 
judge  of  the  district  court.  All  dependents  in  State 
charitable  institutions  and  in  county  homes  where 
insane  are  kept,  and  in  private  institutions  keeping 
children  or  insane,  are  under  the  general  supervision 
of  the  State  Board  of  Control. 

In  many  respects  this  may  appear  to  be  a  complex 
system.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  complexity 
is  not  its  chief  difficulty.  The  citizens  of  Iowa  ex- 
perience very  little  difficulty  in  ascertaining  what 
authority  is  charged  with  the  care  of  a  particular 
case.  The  chief  obstacle  in  the  way  of  successful 
public  relief  work  is  that  centralized  supervision  has 
not  gone  far  enough.  Some  counties  spend  very  little 
on  the  relief  of  the  poor  in  their  homes ;  others  spend 
a  great  deal.  Even  in  the  absence  of  careful  figures 
showing  comparatively  what  different  counties 


326 

spend,  from  the  figures  at  hand  it  is  possible  to  say 
that  the  situation  in  Iowa  is  much  as  it  was  in  In- 
diana before  1897.  In  that  State  it  was  found  that 
the  per  capita  amount  spent  on  the  relief  of  the  poor 
in  their  homes  varied  from  six  cents  in  some  counties 
to  sixty-eight  cents  in  others.  The  amount  depended 
much  upon  the  personnel  of  the  officials  concerned  in 
its  distribution. 


XIX 

SOME  SUGGESTED  CHANGES  IN  THE  SYS- 
TEM OF  POOR  BELIEF  IN  IOWA 

The  system  of  caring  for  dependent  children  in 
Iowa  needs  very  little  change.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  Orphans'  Home,  as  a  receiving  home 
for  children  until  they  are  placed  in  normal  family 
relationships  among  the  people  of  the  State,  is  an 
excellent  institution.  It  is  possible  that  more  chil- 
dren could  be  placed  out  in  homes  were  there  more 
State  agents  at  work  under  the  Board  of  Control,  se- 
curing homes  for  such  children.  Furthermore,  the 
operation  of  the  private  homes  for  children  under  the 
supervision  of  the  Board  of  Control  has  been  unex- 
pectedly good.  The  supervision  under  an  efficient 
Board  insures  sanitary  conditions  in  the  home  where 
they  are  temporarily  cared  for.  It  also  insures  that 
they  shall  not  be  cruelly  treated,  that  they  shall  be 
adequately  fed,  and  decently  clothed ;  and  in  addition 
it  provides  some  sort  of  control  over  the  placing-out 
methods  employed  by  these  institutions  and  associa- 
tions. So  far  as  has  been  discovered  there  is  very 
little  fault  to  be  found  with  the  plan  which  the  State 
is  following  in  caring  for  orphan  children.  It  might 
be  well  to  have  the  almost  obsolete  provisions  for 

327 


328      POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

binding  out  children  from  the  poorhouses  removed 
from  the  statute  books. 

As  has  already  been  suggested,  the  mothers'  pen- 
sion law,  if  administered  by  the  court  at  all,  should 
be  administered  under  the  supervision  of  a  State 
expert.  In  fact,  it  would  be  well  to  place  the  admin- 
istration of  mothers '  pensions  under  a  special  officer 
of  the  Board  of  Control.  This  person  should  be  an 
expert  in  scientific  charity,  and  should  be  able  to  ad- 
vise judges  as  to  methods  of  treating  cases  which 
come  under  the  provisions  of  this  law.  Further- 
more, his  suggestions  should  have  the  force  of  law, 
within  due  limitations  to  be  set  by  statute. 

The  change  in  the  law  making  the  State  respon- 
sible for  one-half  the  cost  of  keeping  children  in  the 
State  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home,  has  had  the  effect 
of  removing  most  children,  except  those  who  have 
parents  in  the  poorhouses,  from  those  institutions. 
A  law  should  be  passed  in  the  interest  of  the  chil- 
dren, forbidding  the  keeping  of  those  over  two  years 
of  age  in  the  county  homes.  Reference  was  made 
when  discussing  this  matter  in  a  previous  chapter  to 
the  fact  that  counties  had  induced  relatives  to  pay 
the  county's  half  of  the  cost  of  keeping  a  child  in  the 
Soldiers '  Orphans '  Home.  This  practice  points  to  a 
loose  administration  of  the  law  and  indicates  that 
stricter  provisions  should  be  made  for  the  support  of 
such  children  by  relatives,  and  more  power  over  this 
class  of  children  be  given  some  administrative  body 
like  the  Board  of  Control  in  the  absence  of  a  special 
board  of  children 's  guardians. 


SOME  SUGGESTED  CHANGES  329 

With  respect  to  the  county  homes  radical  changes 
are  needed.  Ideally  the  county  home  can  never  be  a 
successful  institution  in  the  less  populous  counties  of 
Iowa.  In  the  judgment  of  the  writer  a  law  should 
be  enacted  giving  adjoining  counties  the  right  to 
erect,  at  some  point  centrally  located  for  the  counties 
concerned,  a  joint  county  home  or  poorhouse.  The 
law  should  forbid  the  keeping  in  this  institution  of 
children,  feeble-minded,  or  epileptics,  and  other 
classes  of  defectives  except  the  blind  or  deaf  and 
dumb  who  are  too  old  to  be  kept  in  the  State  institu- 
tions for  these  classes.  The  law  should  make  this  a 
home  for  the  aged  and  infirm.  By  a  slight  change, 
providing  for  the  employment  of  a  farmer  for  each 
of  these  institutions,  the  farm  could  be  made  to  pay 
better  than  it  does  at  the  present  time  when  run  by  a 
man  who  is  neither  an  expert  farmer  nor  an  expert 
in  the  care  of  the  poor.  The  law  should  provide  for 
certain  definite  qualifications  for  the  steward  of  a 
poorhouse.  In  no  unmistakable  terms  he  should  be 
designated  as  the  one  to  have  charge  of  the  inmates 
of  the  poorhouse,  and  to  see  to  their  comfort  and 
provide  for  their  employment  and  happiness. 

The  advantages  of  the  district  infirmary  for  a 
rural  State  like  Iowa,  especially  in  those  counties 
where  there  are  no  large  cities,  have  been  set  forth 
in  another  connection,  but  the  main  points  may  be 
summarized  here.  There  would  be  a  larger  body  of 
inmates,  allowing  better  classification  and  special- 
ization in  treatment,  providing  for  larger  numbers 
of  each  class  and  thus  making  possible  careful  atten- 


330      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

tion  to  each  group  of  inmates.  There  would  prob- 
ably be  more  able-bodied  persons  to  be  set  to  work. 
The  group  of  the  infirm  would  be  large  enough  so 
that  it  would  be  worth  while  to  secure  the  services  of 
a  better  doctor  for  their  treatment.  If  the  chronic 
insane  were  retained  in  connection  with  the  county 
home,  there  would  be  a  sufficient  number  so  that  they 
could  have  a  trained  alienist  and  special  nurses  to 
care  for  them ;  and  greater  care  would  probably  be 
taken  also  to  look  after  their  entertainment  and  hap- 
piness. The  treatment  of  larger  numbers  together 
would  be  more  economical  or  would  provide  at  the 
same  cost  much  better  care. 

A  more  complete  segregation,  not  only  of  the  sexes, 
but  of  the  classes  in  a  poorhouse,  should  be  made. 
All  of  these  things  could  be  best  accomplished  in  a 
large  institution  in  a  district  composed  of  several 
counties.  Moreover,  a  district  infirmary  or  poor- 
house  would  have  the  advantage  that  it  would  make 
possible  the  establishment  in  connection  therewith  of 
a  work-house  for  the  misdemeanants  of  the  counties 
concerned.  Such  a  plan  has  been  worked  out  with 
far-sighted  wisdom  by  the  city  of  Cleveland  in  its 
"Cooley  Farms".  In  such  an  institution,  the  in- 
mates of  the  work-house  would  perform  a  large  part 
of  the  labor  on  the  farm  connected  with  the  district 
infirmary. 

Since  in  Iowa  there  is  considerable  agitation  for 
the  establishment  of  county  sanitoriums  for  the  care 
of  chronic  tubercular  patients,  and  since  the  State 
has  now  authorized  counties  to  build  such  institu- 


SOME  SUGGESTED  CHANGES  331 

tions,  the  district  plan  would  also  enable  the  counties 
within  such  a  district  to  combine  in  the  erection  of  a 
joint  sanitorium,  which  could  be  separated  on  the 
farm  a  sufficient  distance  from  the  infirmary  and  the 
work-house  to  cause  no  stigma  to  attach  to  the  in- 
mates of  the  sanitorium.  With  such  a  combination 
better  buildings  could  be  provided,  expert  attendants 
could  be  hired  because  better  salaries  could  be  paid, 
better  classification  of  the  inmates  could  be  secured, 
a  more  personal  division  of  labor  between  the  in- 
firm and  able-bodied  paupers  could  be  provided  for, 
and  the  probabilities  are  that  all  this  could  be  done 
at  a  greatly  decreased  expense. 

These  district  homes  should  be  under  the  super- 
vision and  regulation  of  special  agents  of  some  cen- 
tral administrative  body,  such  as  the  State  Board  of 
Control  or  a  board  of  charities.  Without  State  su- 
pervision it  is  doubtful  whether  the  district  poor- 
house  would  be  any  better  than  the  county  institu- 
tion. 

As  an  alternative  to  the  plan  of  district  poor- 
houses,  the  State  should  give  the  Board  of  Control 
authority  over  all  poorhouses,  and  provide  officers 
appointed  by  the  Board  to  inspect  these  institutions. 
These  officers,  or  the  Board  itself,  should  have  the 
power  to  approve  all  plans  for  poorhouses  before 
such  buildings  are  erected  by  counties.  This  plan  in 
Indiana  has  resulted  in  the  erection  of  an  altogether 
different  and  better  type  of  poorhouse  and  has  pre- 
vented the  squandering  of  the  money  of  the  counties 
on  useless  buildings. 


332      POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

Changes  in  the  administration  of  out-relief  should 
also  be  made.  The  present  system  is  almost  as  bad 
as  it  is  possible  to  make  it.  Indiana  has  secured 
very  great  improvement  in  outdoor  relief  by  the 
simple  device  of  requiring  three  things :  first,  the  or- 
ganization of  an  unsalaried  county  board  of  char- 
ities to  supervise  the  work;  second,  requiring  the 
overseers  of  the  poor  in  each  township  to  levy  a  tax 
upon  the  property  of  the  township  for  the  amount 
which  they  have  expended  for  the  out-relief  of  the 
poor  of  that  township  during  the  preceding  year; 
and  third,  requiring  quarterly  reports  from  the  over- 
seers of  the  poor  to  be  filed,  one  copy  with  the  county 
supervisors,  one  with  the  State  Board  of  Charities, 
and  one  with  the  county  board  of  charities.  By  these 
three  steps  Indiana  has  secured  the  application  of 
scientific  charity  to  the  treatment  of  the  poverty 
cases  in  each  township.  This  plan  has  brought  to 
the  attention  of  the  taxpayers  of  each  township  any 
extravagance  or  wastefulness  to  which  the  overseers 
may  have  been  tempted  in  order  to  avoid  doing  real 
investigating  and  constructive  work.  Again,  it  has 
enabled  comparisons  to  be  made  between  the  poor 
relief  methods  of  the  various  townships  throughout 
the  State.  In  the  State  of  Iowa  at  the  present  time 
no  one  knows  whether  one  county  or  one  township  is 
doing  better  than  another  or  not.  The  township  or 
city  which  has  a  good  overseer  suffers  because  of  a 
bad  one  in  the  neighboring  township  or  city. 

In  addition  to  these  measures  provided  by  the  law 
of  Indiana,  if  the  State  Board  of  Control  were  given 


SOME  SUGGESTED  CHANGES  333 

authority  to  prescribe  rules  for  the  overseers  and  on 
recommendation  of  the  proposed  county  board  of 
charities  to  discharge  an  overseer  of  the  poor,  and  if 
after  a  certain  length  of  time  the  county  supervisors 
should  not  appoint  another,  the  county  board  of 
charities  should  be  authorized  to  appoint  an  over- 
seer themselves  in  the  place  of  the  one  dismissed,  a 
new  day  would  dawn  in  the  history  of  Iowa  outdoor 
relief.  ,  Since  the  center  of  difficulty  is  the  overseer 
of  the  poor,  upon  him  must  be  concentrated  the  ef- 
forts toward  remedying  the  evil  conditions.  This 
plan  would  do  that,  and  furthermore,  it  would  lessen 
the  power  and  authority  of  the  county  board  of  su- 
pervisors —  an  object  very  much  to  be  desired  so  far 
as  poor  relief  is  concerned. 

The  State  Board  of  Control  has  repeatedly  urged 
that  the  care  of  the  indigent  insane  should  be  under- 
taken by  State  institutions  rather  than  by  county 
asylums.  It  has  presented  all  the  arguments  against 
the  supposedly  economical  but  nefarious  county  sys- 
tem and  has  demolished  that  dominant  argument 
that  county  care  of  the  chronic  insane  is  cheaper 
than  State  care.  Moreover,  it  has  demonstrated  be- 
yond the  peradventure  of  a  doubt  that  State  care 
on  the  same  level  as  the  county  care  that  is  now  given 
would  be  just  as  cheap  if  not  cheaper.  It  has  also 
shown,  however,  that  the  present  grade  of  care  is  not 
desirable  either  in  a  State  institution  or  in  a  county 
institution. 

Without  doubt,  the  patients  in  the  county  asylums 
could  receive  very  much  better  care  in  a  State  in- 


stitution,  at  a  cost  that  would  impose  no  greater  bur- 
den on  the  counties.  The  care  of  these  people  is  a 
burden  which  should  not  be  placed  upon  the  stewards 
of  the  county  homes,  who  are  not  fitted  to  perform 
this  duty.  The  insane  suffer  from  neglect,  having  no 
expert  treatment  and  in  many  cases  not  even  suf- 
ficient physical  care.  This  is  true  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  these  institutions  are  under  the  supervision 
of  the  State  Board  of  Control.  It  is  absolutely  im- 
possible for  the  Board  to  look  after  the  inmates  of 
fifty  of  these  institutions  scattered  all  over  the  State. 
Were  they  gathered  together  in  one  or  two  institu- 
tions favorably  located,  they  could  be  given  that  ex- 
pert treatment  and  adequate  care  which  the  dictates 
of  modern  civilization  demand. 


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NOTES  AND  REFERENCES 


NOTES  AND  REFERENCES 

CHAPTER  I 

1  Chase 's  Statutes  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  pp.  107,  108. 

Where  this  law  was  obtained  can  not  be  determined.  At  least 
Chase's  Statutes  of  Ohio  gives  no  indication.  Notes  showing  the 
State  from  which  each  law  was  adopted  do  not  appear  until  one 
comes  to  the  laws  of  1795.  Chase  says  that  the  Governor  and  Judges 
did  not  observe  the  requirements  of  the  Ordinance  to  adopt  laws 
from  the  original  States  during  the  period  from  1788  to  1795. —  See 
Chase's  Statutes  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  pp.  19,  20. 

He  also  states  that  this  was  one  of  the  eleven  laws  passed  ' '  by 
governor  St.  Clair  and  Judges  Symmes  and  Turner ' '.  —  Chase 's  Stat- 
utes of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  p.  106  (footnote). 

2  In  this  connection  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  observe  that  the 
recently  much  discussed  mothers'  pension  bills  put  the  administra- 
tion of  this  form  of  relief  back  into  the  hands  of  a  court. 

3  Chase 's  Statutes  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  pp.  175-182. 

A  large  part  of  this  act  was  a  faithful  copy  of  the  various  statutes 
of  Elizabeth  from  1575  to  1601.  It  is  remarkable  how  long  the  in- 
fluence of  that  provision  of  the  English  statute,  18  Eliz.  c.  3,  lasted, 
which  required  that  the  authorities  provide  a  stock  of  wool,  flax,  etc. 
on  which  the  poor  could  work.  See  Leonard's  English  Poor  Eelief, 
p.  72;  Nicholls's  History  of  the  English  Poor  Law,  Vol.  I,  pp.  170, 
171. 

*  Chase's  Statutes  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  pp.  284,  285. 
s  Chase's  Statutes  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  pp.   513-515. 
«  Chase's  Statutes  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  p.  591. 

^  Chase 's  Statutes  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  pp.  695,  696.  In  fact,  this 
law,  aside  from  the  omission  of  Section  10  of  the  old  act,  made  no 
change  in  the  existing  state  of  things.  Section  10  related  to  be- 

343 


344      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

quests  and  gifts  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor,  and  was  put  back  into 
the  law  by  the  act  of  February  10,  1816. 

s  Chase 's  Statutes  of  Ohio,  Vol.  II,  pp.  943-945. 

9  Chase 's  Statutes  of  Ohio,  Vol.  II,  p.  998. 

10  The  special  act  establishing  a  poorhouse  in  Wayne  County,  Ter- 
ritory of  Michigan,  passed  on  June  23,  1828,  had  a  similar  provision, 
but  it  was  not  so  thoroughgoing  and  did  not  apply  outside  of  Wayne 
County.     Doubtless,  however,  both  the  latter  and  the  act  of  October 
29,  1829,  were  affected  by  the  existence  of  the  Ohio  law.     Laws  of  the 
Territory  of  Michigan,  Vol.  II,  pp.  677,  727. 

11  Chase's  Statutes  of  Ohio,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  1626. 

12  Chase's  Statutes  of  Ohio,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  1832. 
is  Chase 's  Statutes  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  p.  176. 
"Chase's  Statutes  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  pp.  998-1000. 
is  Chase's  Statutes  of  Ohio,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  1547. 

16  Chase's  Statutes  of  Ohio,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  1619. 
IT  Chase 's  Statutes  of  Ohio,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  1829. 

is  Ohio  General  Laws,  Thirty-Second  General  Assembly,  1833-34, 
pp.  35,  36. 

CHAPTEE  II 

19  Shambaugh  's  Documentary  Material  'Relating  to  the  History  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  I,  pp.  49,  59,  61. 

20  McCarty  's  Territorial  Governors  of  the  Old  Northwest,  pp.  121, 
122-136;    and   Shambaugh 's  Documentary  Material  Eclating  to  the 
History  of  Iowa,  Vol.  I,  pp.  71,  72.     These  were  "adaptations"  in 
a  very  much  looser  sense  than  the  word  had  for  the  authorities  of  the 
Northwest  Territory  after  1795.     See  Chase's  Statutes  of  Ohio,  Vol. 
I,  pp.  19,  26. 

21  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  Vol.  I,  pp.  90,  208 ;   and 
Shambaugh 's  Documentary  Material  Eelating  to  the  History  of  Iowa, 
Vol.  II,  p.  116. 

22  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  Vol.  II,  pp.  40-42. 

23  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  Vol.  II,  pp.  115,  116. 


NOTES  AND  REFERENCES  345 

24  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  Vol.  II,  pp.  595-602 ;  and 
Shambaugh  's  Documentary  Material  Eelating  to  the  History  of  Iowa, 
Vol.  II,  p.  204. 

25  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  Vol.  II,  p.  130. 
28  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  Vol.  I,  p.  531. 

27  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  Vol.  II,  p.  185. 

28  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  Vol.  II,  p.  287,  288. 

29  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  Vol.  II,  p.  727. 
so  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  868. 
si  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  1038. 

32  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  822-824. 

33  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  1134-1142. 
s*  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  Vol.  II,  p.  130. 

35  By  an  act  approved  on  March  6,  1833,  the  legislature  provided 
that  the  county  supervisors  should  direct  the  collector  of  the  taxes  in 
each  town  (township)  to  pay  "to  the  director  of  the  poor  such  money 
as  shall  be  raised  for  the  maintenance  of  the  poor  of  such  town". 
This  money  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  was  to  be  paid  "out  of  the 
first  money  which  shall  be  collected ' ',  seemingly  giving  the  poor  a 
first  claim  upon  the  money  raised  for  township  expenses. —  Laws  of 
the  Territory  of  Michigan,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  982. 

36  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  Vol.  II,  p.  677. 

37  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  986. 

38  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  1293. 

CHAPTEE  III 

39  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin,  1836-38,  p.  11. 

40  ' '  Local  assessments  appear  to  have  been  made  from  time  to 
time  in  Green  Bay,  but  apparently  no  regular  tax  was  levied  until 
after  1833.     It  was,  indeed,  not  until  the  organization  of  Wisconsin 
Territory  that  all  of  the  region  included  within  its  bounds  came  un- 
der  the   operations   of   a   well-regulated    system    of    administration. 

Even  the  school  taxes  of  1838-1840  created  much  dissatis- 


346      POOR  BELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

faction,  and  for  a  time  they  necessarily  were  made  optional  with  the 
community."  —  Thwaites's  Wisconsin,  p.  280. 

41  "A  census  taken  in  August  [1836],  as  a  basis  of  apportioning 
members  of  the  legislature  to  the  various  counties,  showed  a  total 
population  of  22,218.     Des  Moines  was  first,  with  6,257;   Iowa  next, 
with    5,234;    Dubuque    third,    with    4,274;    Milwaukee    fourth,    with 
2,893;    Brown  fifth,   with   2,706,   and   Crawford   last,   with   854."  — 
Wisconsin   in   Three   Centuries    (New   York:     The   Century   History 
Co.,  1906),  p.  301. 

42  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin,  1836-38,  pp.  178-181. 

*3  The  organization  of  boards  of  county  commissioners  was  pro- 
vided for  by  an  act  of  December  20,  1837. —  Laws  of  the  Territory 
of  Wisconsin,  1836-1838,  p.  138. 

CHAPTEE  IV 

44  Journal  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  1838-1839,  pp.  79,  83, 
96,  104;  Journal  of  the  Council,  1838-1839,  pp.  92,  93,  198. 

*$Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1838-1839,  p.  276. 

46  Journal  of  the  Council,  1839-1840,  pp.  49,  52,  142,  159;  Jour- 
nal of  the  House  of  Representatives,  1839-1840,  pp.  216,  226;   and 
Laws  of  the   Territory  of  Iowa,   1839-1840,  pp.   83,   84.     Governor 
Eobert  Lucas  in  a  communication  to  the  Council  under  date  of  Jan- 
uary 16,  1840,  acknowledged  the  receipt  of  "an  act  for  the  relief  of 
the  poor. ' ' —  See  Shambaugh  's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the 
Governors  of  Iowa,  Vol.  I,  p.  201.     In  the  Executive  Journal  of  Gov- 
ernor Lucas  in  a  memorandum  of  bills  and  resolutions  under  date  of 
January  16,  1840,  there  is  one  entitled  "An  act  for  the  relief  of  the 
Poor ' ',  which  is  marked  ' '  approved ' '. —  See  Shambaugh 's  Executive 
Journal  of  Iowa,  1838-1841,  p.  310. 

47  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin,  1836-38,  p.  178. 

48  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1839-1840,  pp.  83,  84. 

49  The  Michigan  law  of  1825  included  the  entire  list  of  relatives ; 
the  law  of  1827  dropped  out  brothers  and  sisters;  while  the  act  of 
1833  omitted  the  section  entirely.     On  the  other  hand,  the  Wisconsin 
law  which  the  legislators  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa  borrowed  included 
all  of  the  relatives  mentioned  in  the  Michigan  law  of  1825  and  the 


NOTES  AND  REFERENCES  347 

act  of  the  Northwest  Territory  of  1795,  with  the  proviso  that  no  one 
but  parents  and  children  were  to  be  held  responsible  for  paupers 
who  were  such  by  reason  of  intemperance  or  bad  conduct.  More- 
over, since  the  Iowa  statute  omitted  some  of  the  relatives  which  the 
Wisconsin  law  named  as  responsible  for  the  care  of  pauper  relatives, 
it  was  natural  that  it  should  also  omit  that  part  of  the  law  which 
related  to  the  order  in  which  these  parties  were  liable  for  the  support 
of  paupers. 

so  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1839-1840,  pp.  48,  49. 

si  Laws  of  the   Territory   of  Iowa,   1840,   Extra   Session,   p.   20. 

This  may  have  been  thought  necessary  by  the  legislators  not  only 
by  reason  of  the  fact  that  the  laws  of  Michigan  and  Wisconsin  had 
been  extended  over  this  new  Territory  by  the  Organic  Act,  but  also 
by  reason  of  the  provision  in  section  six  of  the  Wisconsin  act  pro- 
viding for  the  care  of  non-residents  who  might  fall  sick  in  the  Ter- 
ritory, by  the  overseers  of  the  poor  of  the  township.  The  new  Iowa 
law  did  not  provide  for  township  overseers. 

52  Journal  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  1841-1842,  pp.   128, 
146,  158,  159,  167;  and  Journal  of  the  Council,  1841-1842,  pp.  156, 
157,  161,  223. 

53  Journal  of  the  Souse  of  Representatives,   1841-1842,  pp.   158, 
159.     The  following  quotation  from  a  contemporary  newspaper  will 
show  the  attitude  of  mind  then  dominant  in  the  legislature. 

"Mr.  Hepner  from  the  committee  on  memorials,  reported  Nos.  2 
and  32  C.  F.  and  Nos.  66  and  80  H.  E.  file,  back  to  the  house  with- 
out amendment,  and  recommended  the  passage  of  the  same. 

"Mr.  Morgan,  from  the  committee  on  the  judiciary,  to  which  was 
referred  certain  petitions  and  remonstrances  to  the  law  regulating 
blacks  and  mulattoes,  submitted  the  following  report: 

"That  they  have  considered  the  subject  as  set  forth,  both  in  the 
petitions  and  in  the  remonstrances,  and  are  of  opinion  that  it  would 
be  inexpedient,  if  not  dangerous,  to  have  any  additional  legislation 
on  the  subject. 

' '  The  existing  law  is,  in  the  opinion  of  your  committee,  essential 
to  the  protection  of  the  white  population  against  an  influx  of  run- 
away slaves  and  outcast  blacks  from  adjoining  States;  and  your 
committee  are  also  of  opinion  that  said  law  is  already  sufficiently 
liberal  in  its  provisions  respecting  such  blacks  and  mulattoes  as  may 


348      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

choose  to  make  a  home  in  our  Territory.  So  far,  then,  from  recom- 
mending any  alteration  in  our  law  on  this  subject,  giving  still 
greater  liberty  and  protection  to  blacks  and  mulattoes  your  commit- 
tee think  that  an  amendment  to  the  law,  prohibiting  positively  their 
settlement  among  us,  would  approach  more  nearly  the  true  policy  of 
our  Territory.  But  this  course  your  committee  do  not  now  feel  fully 
instructed  to  recommend. 

"Your  committee  refrain  from  any  discussion  of  this  subject,  as 
it  is  one  which  has  already  created  a  dangerous  excitement  through- 
out the  States  of  the  Union;  and  your  committee,  deprecating  all 
such  excitements  as  dangerous  to  the  interest  and  happiness  of  so- 
ciety, deem  it  most  prudent  to  meet  the  first  outburst  of  the  spirit 
of  fanaticism  among  us  with  a  respectful  silence  rather  than  run  the 
risk  of  increasing  its  fury  by  discussion  and  formal  opposition. 

"Your  committee,  therefore,  recommend  that  no  legislative  action 
be  taken  in  regard  to  the  prayers  of  the  petitioners,  and  ask  to  be 
discharged  from  the  further  consideration  of  the  subject. ' ' —  Iowa 
Capitol  Reporter  (Iowa  City),  February  12,  1842,  from  the  report  of 
the  business  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  February  9,  1842. 

54  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1841-1842,  pp.  58-60. 
ss  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1841-1842,  pp.  83-85. 

56  Both  were  copied  from  the  Ohio  laws  of  1831.  The  dependence 
of  the  poorhouse  law  upon  the  Ohio  law  of  1831  was  first  brought 
out  by  Dr.  Aurner  in  his  work  on  the  History  of  the  Township  Gov- 
ernment in  Iowa,  Ch.  XVI. 

ST  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1843-44,  p.  18.  The  course  of 
this  act  through  the  two  houses  of  the  legislature  shows  that  there 
was  no  particular  interest  in  the  matter. —  See  Journal  of  the  House 
of  Eepresentatives  1843-1844,  pp.  168,  179,  185,  231;  and  Journal  of 
the  Council,  1843-1844,  pp.  149,  151,  153,  154. 

58  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1845,  p.  28. 

CHAPTER  V 

59  Constitution    of   Iowa,    1846,    Article   XIII,    Sec.    2,    in    Sham- 
baugh  's  Documentary  Material  Eclating  to  the  History  of  Iowa,  Vol. 
I,  p.  208. 

eo  Laws  of  Iowa,   1846-1847,  p.   150.     The  repeal  of  the  law  of 


NOTES  AND  REFERENCES  349 

1844  by  this  act  affected  no  important  principle,  as  the  provisions  of 
the  former  related  solely  to  the  paying  for  the  support  of  the  poor 
out  of  the  county  treasury,  rather  than  out  of  the  township  treasuries 
as  was  sometimes  the  case,  and  the  auditing  of  the  accounts  involved 
in  the  expenses  for  the  support  of  the  poor  by  the  county  commission- 
ers.—  See  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1843-1844,  p.  18. 

61  Laws  of  Iowa,  1846-1847,  p.  182. 

62  Laws  of  Iowa,  1848-1849,  p.  62. 

ea  Laws  of  Iowa,  1850-1851,  p.  77.  For  the  provisions  see  note  69 
where  this  act  is  described. 

e*  Laws  of  Iowa,  1850-1851,  p.  230. 

es  The  history  of  these  two  bills  in  their  passage  through  the  two 
houses  will  perhaps  throw  some  light  upon  the  methods  of  legislation 
in  general  and  the  results  of  legislation  for  the  poor  in  particular 
during  this  period.  The  bill  providing  for  the  poorhouse  in  Des 
Moines  County  was  introduced  by  Mr.  Milton  D.  Browning  on  Feb- 
ruary 10,  1847.  It  was  read  a  first  and  second  time  and  on  his  motion 
was  then  laid  upon  the  table.  In  the  afternoon  of  that  day  it  was 
taken  from  the  table  and  referred  to  a  select  committee  composed  of 
the  Senators  from  Des  Moines  County.  On  the  next  day  this  com- 
mittee reported  it  to  the  Senate  with  two  amendments,  which  were 
concurred  in,  and  the  bill  was  then  ordered  to  be  engrossed  and  read 
a  third  time  on  the  next  day.  This  was  done  on  the  12th  and  the 
bill  passed.  On  the  motion  of  Mr.  Samuel  Fullinwider  the  title  was 
amended  to  read  "require"  in  stead  of  "authorize".  —  Journal  of 
the  Senate,  1846-1847,  pp.  204,  206,  211,  214. 

In  the  House  the  bill  was  read  a  first  time  on  February  15th,  and 
a  second  time  on  the  18th,  at  which  time  Mr.  William  J.  Cochran, 
who  later  introduced  the  bill  applying  to  Lee  County,  moved  to 
amend  the  bill  by  including  Lee  County  within  its  scope.  This  was 
agreed  to  by  the  House  and  the  bill  was  then  referred  to  a  select 
committee  composed  of  the  members  from  the  counties  of  Lee  and 
Des  Moines.  On  February  24th,  Mr.  Alfred  Hebard  of  the  select 
committee  to  which  it  had  been  referred  reported  it  back  to  the 
House  with  amendments.  The  amendments  were  concurred  in,  the 
rules  suspended  and  the  bill  read  a  third  time,  passed,  the  title  agreed 
to,  and  the  chief  clerk  ordered  to  acquaint  the  Senate  of  that  fact. — 


350      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

Journal  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  1846-1847,  pp.  311,  342,  343, 
411. 

That  during  the  discussion  of  this  bill  in  the  select  committee  of 
the  House  the  amendment  by  which  Lee  County  was  included  in  its 
provision  was  eliminated  is  to  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  the 
Senate  concurred  in  the  amendments  as  passed  by  the  House  on 
motion  of  Mr.  Browning,  thus  indicating  that  any  changes  made  in 
the  bill  were  made  in  the  House. —  Journal  of  the  Senate,  1846-1847, 
p.  293.  As  approved  by  the  Governor  and  printed  it  did  not  contain 
the  amendment  including  Lee  County. 

During  the  time  while  this  bill  was  in  the  hands  of  the  select  com- 
mittee of  the  House,  from  the  18th  to  the  24th,  it  must  have  become 
clear  to  the  committee  that  for  some  reason  Lee  County  should  not 
be  included  for  on  the  22nd  Mr.  Cochran  introduced  House  File  No. 
132,  a  ' '  bill  for  the  relief  of  the  poor ' '  which  became  a  law  on  the 
same  day  as  the  other  and  applied  only  to  Lee  County. —  Journal  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  1846-1847,  p.  375. 

The  reasons  for  the  decision  to  have  two  bills  instead  of  one  may 
be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  the  bill  for  Lee  County  was  quite  dif- 
ferent from  that  for  Des  Moines  County.  One  act  approved  on  Feb- 
ruary 25,  1847,  repealed  the  Territorial  act  of  February  12,  1844,  in 
the  county  of  Lee  and  gave  the  commissioners  of  that  county  au- 
thority to  have  the  citizens  vote  on  the  question  of  the  erection  of  a 
county  poorhouse.  The  second  act,  approved  on  the  same  day,  re- 
quired the  county  commissioners'  court  of  Des  Moines  County  to 
purchase  any  amount  of  land  up  to  the  two  hundred  acres  for  the 
purpose  of  establishing  thereon  a  poorhouse  and  farm.  It  also  pro- 
vided that  the  provisions  of  the  law  of  February  17,  1842,  for  a 
board  of  directors  for  the  poorhouse  were  to  be  repealed  in  their 
application  to  the  county  of  Des  Moines.  The  duties  of  this  board 
were  made  by  this  act  the  duties  of  the  county  commissioners'  court. 
In  other  respects  the  act  of  1842  was  to  remain  in  full  force  in  the 
county  of  Des  Moines. —  Laws  of  Iowa,  1846-1847,  pp.  150,  182 

On  January  12,  1849,  a  special  act  repealed  the  law  of  February 
25,  1847.  Again  on  February  4,  1851,  by  a  special  act  the  legisla- 
ture provided  that  the  county  commissioners  of  Lee  County  were  au- 
thorized to  purchase  any  quantity  of  land  for  a  poorhouse  up  to  two 
hundred  and  forty  acres.  It  was  to  be  located  and  managed  along 
lines  similar  to  those  laid  down  in  1847  for  Des  Moines  County.  In 
order  to  bring  about  legislative  consistency  it  was  necessary  on  the 


NOTES  AND  REFERENCES  351 

following  day  to  repeal  the  act  of  January  12,  1849,  which  repealed 
the  previous  act  of  February  25,  1847,  thus  reviving  the  latter.  Noth- 
ing could  more  clearly  show  how  chaotic  were  legislative  conditions 
at  this  time  than  this  series  of  special  acts  relating  to  the  counties  of 
Lee  and  Des  Moines. —  Laws  of  Iowa,  1848-1849,  p.  62;  1850-1851, 
pp.  77,  230. 

66  During  this  session,  on  February  18th,  another  bill  of  the  same 
general  nature,  but  applying  to  Muscatine  County,  was  introduced  in- 
to the  House  as  House  File,  No.  121.     This  bill,  however,  after  being 
read  the  second  time,  was  laid  on  the  table  from  which  it  was  never 
taken. —  Journal  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  1846-1847,  p.  342. 

67  Laws  of  Iowa,  1847-1848,  p.  95. 

68  Powell 's  History  of  the  Codes  of  Iowa  Law,  in  the  Iowa  Journal 
of  History  and  Politics,  Vol.  X,  No.  1,  pp.  12-14. 

eaMcClain's  Charles  Mason  —  Iowa's  First  Jurist,  in  the  Annals 
of  Iowa  (Third  Series),  Vol.  IV,  p.  607. 

TO  Code  of  1851,  pp.  124-132. 

71  Code  of  1851,  pp.  128,  129. 

72  Code  of  1851,  p.  130. 

73  Compare  Code  of  1851,  pp.  131,  132;  Laws  of  the  Territory  of 
Iowa,  1841-1842,  pp.  83-85;  and  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan, 
Vol.  II,  pp.  727-731,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  822-824;  and  Chase's  Statutes  of 
Ohio,  Vol.  II,  pp.  998-1000;  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  1547,  1548,  1829-1832. 

74  Code  of  1851,  pp.  124-132. 

75  Bowman's  The  Aministration  of  Iowa,  in  the  Columbia   Uni- 
versity Studies  in  History,  Economics  and  Public  Law,  Vol.  XVIII, 
No.  1,  p.  171. 

76  Crawford 's  The  County  Judge  System  of  Iowa  with  Special  Ref- 
erence to  its  Workings  in  Pottawattamie  County,  in  the  Iowa  Journal 
of  History  and  Politics,  Vol.  VIII,  p.  482. 

77Garver's  The  History  of  County  Government  in  Iowa  (not  yet 
published). 

78McClain's  Charles  Mason  —  Iowa's  First  Jurist,  in  the  Annals 
of  Iowa  (Third  Series),  Vol.  IV,  p.  608. 


352      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

79  Eeport  of  the  Code  Commissioners,  1859,  p.  190;  Powell's  His- 
tory of  the  Codes  of  Iowa  Law,  in  the  Iowa  Journal  of  History  and 
Politics,  Vol.  X,  p.  43. 

so  The  Code  of  1851  was  compared  both  with  the  first  revision  of 
the  New  York  laws  and  with  the  sixth  edition  of  The  Revised  Statutes 
of  the  State  of  New  YorTc,  1875,  Vol.  II,  Ch.  XX,  Title  I,  where  the 
sections  which  belonged  to  the  first  revision  are  indicated.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  had  the  Field  reports  been  at  hand  a  study  of  these  would 
have  revealed  many  more  similarities,  and  the  greater  debt  of  the 
Iowa  Code  Commissioners  to  these  reports.  This  is  hardly  probable, 
however,  as  the  Eevised  Statutes  of  the  State  of  New  ¥ork  show 
close  agreement  only  in  these  sections. 

si  Laws  of  Iowa,  1854-1855,  p.  7. 

82  Laws  of  Iowa,  1858,  p.  282. 

83  Laws  of  Iowa,  1860,  p.  48.     The  amount  of  land  purchased  in 
this  case  is  mentioned,  namely,  '  '  one  hundred  and  ten  acres  '  '. 


of  Iowa,  1856,  p.  454. 

ss  In  Pottawattamie  County  objection  to  the  county  judge  system 
was  first  aroused  over  the  action  of  the  judge  in  loaning  out  the 
money  received  from  the  swamp  lands  instead  of  using  it  to  buy  a 
county  farm,  as  was  apparently  voted  by  the  electors  of  the  county. 
See  Crawford  's  The  County  Judge  System  in  Iowa,  in  the  Iowa  Jour- 
nal of  History  and  Politics,  Vol.  VIII,  p.  489. 

Finally  the  judge  bought  the  land  for  the  county  poor  farm,  and 
was  then  accused  by  his  political  enemies  of  going  beyond  his  au- 
thority. His  friends  in  the  next  legislature  secured  the  adoption  of 
an  act  legalizing  his  action.  As  a  matter  of  fact  his  enemies  were 
right  in  asserting  that  he  had  exceeded  his  authority,  whether  or  not 
the  editor  of  the  Council  Bluffs  Daily  Morning  Bugle  was  correct 
in  saying  that  two  years  before,  according  to  his  recollection,  the 
people  had  voted  to  use  some  of  the  swamp  land  money  for  the  pur- 
chase of  a  poor  farm,  for  the  law  granting  the  swamp  lands  to  the 
counties  provided  that  it  should  be  used  to  build  roads  and  bridges. 

As  to  official  corruption  on  the  part  of  the  judges  see  Crawford's 
The  County  Judge  System  of  Iowa,  in  the  Iowa  Journal  of  History 
and  Politics,  Vol.  VIII. 

Bloomer  says:     "During  the  early  part  of  1859,  a  tract  of  land 


NOTES  AND  REFERENCES  353 

for  a  poor-farm  was  purchased ' '. —  Bloomer 's  Notes  on  the  History 
of  Pottawattamie  County,  in  the  Annals  of  Iowa,  July,  1872,  Vol. 
X,  p.  183.  This  can  not  be  true  for  the  act  legalizing  the  purchase 
of  real  estate  for  a  poor  farm  was  approved  on  March  23,  1858. — 
Laws  of  Iowa,  1858,  p.  282.  Therefore,  it  must  have  been  early  in 
1858,  as  Crawford  asserts  in  his  article  referred  to  above.  As  a  mat- 
ter of  fact  Judge  Nye  bought  the  land  in  the  spring  of  1858,  but  at 
what  was  claimed  an  exorbitant  price.  In  the  indignation  which 
broke  out  in  connection  with  this  transaction  his  authority  to  do  this 
was  called  in  question,  with  the  result  of  the  legislative  action  re- 
ferred to  above.  See  Journal  of  the  Senate,  1858,  pp.  506,  533,  595, 
596 ;  Journal  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  1858,  pp.  776,  781 ;  and 
Laws  of  Iowa,  1858,  p.  282. 

An  attempt  had  been  made  three  years  before  this  to  divert  the 
income  from  the  swamp  lands  by  a  bill  introduced  by  the  representa- 
tive from  Pottawattamie  County,  but  while  it  passed  the  two  houses 
apparently  with  but  little  opposition,  it  did  so  only  in  the  last  days 
of  the  session  and  failed  to  receive  the  Governor's  signature.  Under 
the  Constitution  of  the  State  at  that  time  a  bill  so  failing  to  receive 
the  Governor's  sanction  did  not  become  a  law  if  the  legislature  ad- 
journed within  three  days  of  the  time  when  it  was  sent  to  the  Gov- 
ernor. For  the  course  of  the  bill  through  the  legislature  see  Journal 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  1854-1855,  pp.  228,  322,  366,  408, 
415,  437,  439;  and  Journal  of  the  Senate,  1854-1855,  pp.  256,  282, 
297,  314. 

While  this  bill  failed  to  become  a  law,  it  is  quite  possible  that  the 
county  judge  of  Pottawattamie  County  may  have  labored  under  the 
impression  that  since  it  has  passed  both  houses  of  the  legislature 
and  had  not  been  vetoed,  that  it  was  a  law,  and  therefore  he  pro- 
ceeded to  buy  the  land  with  the  swamp  land  money. 

se  See  the  Revision  of  1860,  Sec.  1354.  Compare  the  Code  of  1851, 
Sec.  786. 

87  Revision  of  1860,  Sec.  312,  sub-sections  20,  23. 

88  Shambaugh  's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  II,  pp.  258,  259. 

89  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  II,  p.  261. 

90  Laws  of  Iowa,  1861,  Extra  Session,  p.  3. 


354      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

91  Laws  of  Iowa,  1861,  Extra  Session,  p.  31. 

92  Shambaugh  's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  II,  pp.  498,  499. 

93  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  II,  pp.  457,  458. 

»*  Laws  of  Iowa,  1862,  Extra  Session,  pp.  37-39. 

95  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  II,  pp.  349,  350 ;  and  Laws  of  Iowa,  1864,  p.  36. 

96  Laws  of  Iowa,  1864,  pp.  99-101. 

97  Laws  of  Iowa,  1866,  Ch.  25,  p.  23. 

98  Laws  of  Iowa,  1868,  Ch.  86,  Sec.  3,  pp.  113,  114. 

99  Laws  of  Iowa,  1868,  Ch..  95,  pp.  130,  131. 

This  bill,  introduced  by  Mr.  John  A.  Kasson  of  Polk  County  on 
March  13,  1868,  was  debated  on  March  25th  when  called  up  by  Mr. 
Benjamin  W.  Johnson  of  Marshall  County  for  a  third  reading.  Mr. 
Thomas  S.  Wilson  of  Dubuque  moved  to  strike  out  the  words  "the 
city  council  of  any  incorporated  city  of  the  first  class",  saying  that 
he  was  opposed  to  sending  the  orphans  and  widows  of  soldiers  to 
the  poorhouse,  but  the  motion  failed  to  carry.  Mr.  John  M.  Garrett 
moved  a  reconsideration,  but  this  motion  likewise  failed.  After  some 
attempts  to  amend  section  three  as  it  stood  in  the  original  bill  Mr. 
A.  K.  Cotton's  motion  to  substitute  a  new  section  for  section  three 
carried  and  the  section  as  it  was  finally  adopted  in  the  law  was  in- 
serted. The  strange  wording  in  the  last  part  of  the  first  section  is 
explained  by  the  fact  that  Mr.  Horace  Hamilton's  motion  to  insert 
after  the  word  ' '  lights ' '  in  the  sixth  line  the  words  ' '  medical  at- 
tendance" finally  carried  and  that  Mr.  Trusdell's  motion  afterwards 
to  add  to  the  end  of  the  section  as  it  originally  stood  the  words  "ex- 
clusive of  medical  attendance ' '  was  carried,  thus  resulting  in  a  sec- 
tion which  seems  in  one  part  to  include  medical  attendance  and  in 
the  other  to  exclude  it  from  the  total  of  two  dollars  a  week  allowed 
for  each  person  aided.  Mr.  Charles  Dudley  moved  to  strike  out  the 
words  ' '  other  persons ' '  in  the  first  line  of  section  two,  but  his  mo- 
tion failed. —  Journal  of  the  Souse  of  Representatives,  1868,  pp.  382, 
385,  472,  488,  611,  634,  639. 

During  the  debate  Mr.  L.  W.  Babbitt  made  an  unsuccessful  motion 


NOTES  AND  REFERENCES  355 

to  strike  out  the  whole  of  section  two.  Mr.  Brannock  Phillips  urged 
against  the  provisions  of  the  bill  that  if  the  words  ' '  other  persons ' ' 
and  "and  prefer  to"  were  left  in  the  bill,  no  one  would  go  to  the 
poorhouses,  with  the  result  that  these  institutions  would  become  ut- 
terly useless  and  deserted,  for  all  would  prefer  to  be  kept  outside  the 
poorhouse  rather  than  in  it.  Mr.  John  A.  Kasson  replied  by  saying 
that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  bill  to  give  those  in  families  the 
choice  of  being  supported  outside  at  two  dollars  per  week  each,  or 
go  to  the  poorhouse,  and  that  so  far  as  the  fear  that  the  poorhouses 
would  be  deserted  was  concerned  he  hoped  that  God  would  hasten  the 
day  when  this  should  be  so,  to  which  several  members  responded  with 
an  "Amen".  Mr.  John  Y.  Stone  tried  to  have  an  amendment 
adopted  providing  for  the  sending  of  the  children  of  soldiers  to  the 
nearest  orphans'  home,  but  after  Mr.  Kasson  had  pointed  out  that 
the  numbers  were  so  great  the  homes  could  not  accommodate  them, 
Mr.  Stone  withdrew  his  motion. —  'towa  State  Eegister  (Weekly), 
April  1,  1868. 

There  is  no  hint  either  in  the  Journal  or  in  the  press  as  to  why 
only  incorporated  cities  of  the  first  class  and  townships  were  included 
within  the  provisions  of  the  act. 

"Wo  In  an  issue  of  the  Iowa  State  Register  (Weekly)  of  April  8, 
1868,  the  editor,  under  the  caption  of  ' '  A  Righteous  Bill ' ',  says : 

' '  We  are  glad  that  in  the  mass  of  local  legislation,  enactments  of 
general  interest  are  not  overlooked  by  the  General  Assembly.  One 
of  the  most  necessary  measures  of  this  kind,  passed  almost  unani- 
mously in  the  House  of  Representatives,  is  House  File,  No.  319,  for 
the  relief  of  certain  classes  of  indigent  persons  and  particularly  de- 
signed to  afford  relief  to  the  families  of  deceased  soldiers,  without 
requiring  them  to  be  sent  to  the  poor-house.  There  is  no  other 
civilized  country  whose  laws  make  no  provision  for  furnishing  needed 
aid,  outside  of  the  poor-house,  to  certain  classes  of  indigent  un- 
fortunate citizens.  In  Iowa  we  have  no  outdoor  poor  law,  and  hun- 
dreds of  worthy  but  indigent  persons,  in  families,  have  suffered  un- 
told privation  and  misery,  by  reason  of  the  want  of  such  a  law.  A 
respectable,  sensible  mother,  or  disabled,  unfortunate  father  sur- 
rounded by  her,  or  his,  flock  of  little  suffering  children,  will  suffer 
on  almost  to  the  point  of  starvation,  rather  than  take  their  children 
to  one  of  our  county  poor-houses,  which,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten, 
is  utterly  unfit  for  their  reception.  As  the  law  is  now,  hundreds  of 


356      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

honorable  indigent  persons  in  the  State  are  supplied,  or  partially 
supplied,  by  private  charity,  who  should  be  aided  by  the  county  in 
which  they  live.  In  many  cases  they  are  furnished  more  or  less  as- 
sistance by  the  township  trustees,  or  the  board  of  supervisors,  who 
take  the  responsibility  of  giving  some  relief,  without  any  law  to  au- 
thorize it.  That  there  should  be  a  law  authorizing  such  acts  of  pub- 
lic humanity,  is  too  manifest  to  admit  of  argument;  and  we  sin- 
cerely trust  that  the  Senate,  in  this  matter,  will  follow  the  example 
of  the  House  and  give  its  sanction  to  the  enactment  at  once." 

The  writer  of  this  editorial  was  not  quite  correct  in  saying  that 
Iowa  had  no  outdoor  relief  at  that  time.  See  Sec.  1390,  Bevision  of 
1860.  This  had  been  in  the  law  from  at  least  1851.  Doubtless,  how- 
ever, the  editorial  reflects  the  actual  practice. 

101  Laws  of  Iowa,  1870,  p.  38. 

102  Laws  of  Iowa,  1872,  p.  72. 

103  Powell's  History  of  the  Codes  of  Iowa  Law,  in  the  Iowa  Jour- 
nal of  History  and  Politics,  Vol.  XI,  pp.  182-185,  especially  note  73, 
on  p.  185.     For  a  full  statement  see  Eeport  of  Commissioners  to  Re- 
vise the  Statutes,  1871,  p.  33. 

10*  Report  of  Code  Commission,  1873,  Title  XI. 

105  Eeport  of  Code  Commission,  1873,  Title  XL 

ice  Journal  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  1873,  pp.  243,  244. 

107  See  Code  of  1873,  pp.  245-251;  and  Code  of  1851,  pp.  124-132. 

108  Senate   File  No.   147   was  introduced  by   Senator   Joseph   H. 
Merrill  of  Wapello  County  in  1874  to  amend  this  part  of  the  Code. — 
Journal  of  the  Senate,  1874,  pp.  150,  189. 

109  Laws  of  Iowa,  1876,  p.  21. 
no  Laws  of  Iowa,  1878,  p.  33. 

in  Journal  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  1876,  pp.  55,  68,  105, 
116,  123,  514,  603. 

112  Laws  of  Iowa,  1876,  p.  143. 
us  Laws  of  Iowa,  1878,  p.  153. 
11*  Laws  of  Iowa,  1880,  pp.  128,  129. 
us  Laws  of  Iowa,  1888,  p.  137. 


NOTES  AND  REFERENCES  357 

us  Laws  of  Iowa,  1897,  Extra  Session,  p.  15. 

in  Laws  of  Iowa,  1882,  p.  55.  Contracts  for  the  new  buildings 
amounted  to  $12,500. 

us  Laws  of  Iowa,  1892,  p.  171. 

us  Laws  of  Iowa,  1897,  Extra  Session,  pp.  30,  31. 

120  Laws  of  Iowa,  1894,  Ch.  115. 

121  Beport  of  the  Code  Commission,  1896,  p.  1. 

122  Eeport  of  the  Code  Commission,  1896,  pp.  3,  4. 

123  Eeport  of  the  Code  Commission,  1896,  pp.  64,  65. 

124  See  the  so-called  "Black  Code",  the  proposed  code  of  the  Com- 
mission of  1896,  pp.  437-443. 

125  Laws  of  Iowa,  1907,  Ch.  254,  p.  254. 

126  Laws  of  Iowa,  1909,  Ch.  132,  p.  131. 

127  Laws  of  Iowa,  1909,  Ch.  29,  p.  29. 

CHAPTER  VI 

128  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  27  Hen.  VIII,  c.  25  provides  that  the 
poor  shall  be  cared  for  by  their  own  neighborhoods.     See  Leonard's 
English  Poor  Belief,  p.  55. 

A  law  of  settlement  was  first  introduced  into  English  Parliamen- 
tary statutes  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II  (13  and  14,  Car.  II,  c.  12), 
but  this  statute  simply  embodied  in  positive  enactment  what  had  long 
been  English  custom.  See  Leonard's  English  Poor  Belief,  pp.  107, 
109. 

129  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin,  1836-1838,  pp.  178-181. 
iso  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1841-1842,  pp.  58-60. 

131  Code  of  1851,  pp.  124,  127. 

132  See  the  so-called  "Black  Code",  the  code  proposed  by  the  Com- 
mission in  1896,  Sees.  9,  11,  pp.  437-443. 

133  Code  of  1897,  Sees.  2224-1,  and  2226. 

134  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  808-1;  Chase's  Statutes  of  Ohio,  Vol.  Ill, 
p.  1832 ;  and  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1841-1842,  p.  58. 


358      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

135  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  808-1;  Laws  of  Iowa,  1864,  Ch.  40;  Code  of 
1873,  Sec.  1352-1 ;  and  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  2224-1. 

136  Code   of  1851,   Sec.   808-3;    Eeport  of  the   Code   Commission, 
1873,  Title  XI,  Sec.  23-3;   Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1352-3;   and  Code  of 
1897,  Sec.  2224-3. 

137  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  808-4,  808-5. 

iss  See  Eeport  of  the  Code  Commission,  1873,  Title  XI,  Sec.  23-4 ; 
and  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  808-4. 

139  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  808-6;  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1352-6;  and  Code 
of  1897,  See.  2224-6. 

140  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1841-1842,  p.  58. 

I"  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  808-7;  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1352-7;  and  Code 
of  1897,  Sec.  2224-7. 

142  Code  of  1851,  See.  809;  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1353;  and  Code  of 
1897,  Sec.  2224. 

143  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1841-1842,  p.  58. 

144  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  813. 
"5  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  814. 

"6  Code  of  1851,  Sees.  815-818. 
«7  Code  of  1873,  Sees.  1357-1360. 

148  The  codifiers  made  it  three  days,  but  the  legislature  changed 
the  number  to  fifteen.  See  "Black  Code",  1896,  pp.  437-443. 

"9  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  2228.  The  Code  Commissioners  had  pro- 
posed ten  days  as  the  term  within  which  notices  must  be  filed  with  the 
district  court— See  "Black  Code",  1896,  pp.  437-443. 

isoAsehrott  and  Preston-Thomas's  The  English  Poor  Law  Sys- 
tem, pp.  9-13. 

CHAPTEE  VII 

isi  Code  of  1851,  Sees.  812-847. 

152  Revision  of  1860,  Sec.  1354;  Laws  of  Iowa,  1868,  p.  114;  Code 
of  1873,  Sec.  1333;  and  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  2218. 

iss  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1343;  and  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  803. 


NOTES  AND  REFERENCES  359 

is*  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1348;  and  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  804. 
iss  Code  of  1897,  Sees.  2219,  2222,  2223. 

ise  Code  of  187S,  Sec.  1354;  Code  of  1897,  Sees.  2225-2227;  and 
Code  of  1851,  Sees.  811-814. 

157  Laws  of  Iowa,  1868,  pp.  130,  131 ;  Code  of  187S,  Sees.  1330- 
1382 ;  and  Code  of  1897,  Sees.  2227,  2228,  2235. 

iss  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  2230. 

iss  Code  of  1897,  Sees.  2230,  2231.  This  was  a  modification  of  the 
provisions  found  in  the  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1361,  and  in  the  enact- 
ments of  the  Sixteenth  General  Assembly,  Ch.  26,  and  of  the  Seven- 
teenth General  Assembly,  Ch.  37. 

i«o  Code  of  1897,  See.  2234.  This  was  a  modification  of  the  Code 
of  1873,  by  the  incorporation  of  the  provisions  of  the  act  approved  on 
April  10,  1888. —  Laws  of  Iowa,  1888,  p.  137.  It  is  interesting  to 
note  that  the  Code  here  differs  slightly  from  the  recommendations  of 
the  Code  Commission  of  1896.  See  the  "Black  Code",  1896,  pp. 
437-443,  Sec.  20. 

lei  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  2239. 

i«2  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  2240 ;  and  Code  of  187S,  Sec.  1371. 

IBS  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  2241.     See  also  Code  of  187S,  Sec.  1372. 

is*  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  2245;  and  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1379. 

165  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  2234. 

i«e  Code  of  1873,  Sees.  1357,  1359. 

167  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  2228. 

i6s  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  814.  Doubtless  he  had  many  more  duties 
than  the  one  mentioned  in  the  Code  would  indicate,  but  if  he  had,  it 
was  because  of  his  close  relations  with  the  county  judge  and  because 
he  was  a  kind  of  subordinate  of  the  court. 

169  Code  of  1873,  Sees.  1343,  1348,  1359 ;  and  Eeport  of  the  Code 
Commission,  1873,  Title  XI,  Sees.  19,  25. 

170  Code  of  1851,  Sees.  789,  797,  799,  800,  802,  803,  813,  814,  830- 
843,  845,  846. 

iTi  Eeport  of  the  Code  Commission,  1873,  Title  XI,  Sec.  43.     In 


360      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

1875   fifty-three   counties   of   the   State  had  poorhouses.     See   Iowa 
Legislative  Documents,  1876,  Vol.  II,  No.  21,  p.  25. 

172  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  790. 

ITS  Eevision  of  1860,  Sec.  1358. 

IT*  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1333. 

175  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1343. 

176  Code  of  1851,  See.  826;  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1370;  and  Code  of 
1897,  Sec.  2239. 

177  See  p.  4. 

"8  See  the  writer 's  paper  on  The  County  Homes  of  Iowa,  in  the 
Proceedings  of  the  Thirteenth  Iowa  State  Conference  of  Charities  and 
Correction,  1911,  p.  41. 

179  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  827 ;  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1371 ;  and  Code  of 
1897,  Sec.  2240. 

iso  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  834;  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1374;  and  Code  of 
1897,  Sec.  2243.  Where  the  title  of  steward  was  obtained  by  the 
code-makers  of  1851  is  not  known. 

isi  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  837;  and  Eevision  of  1860,  Sees.  1403-1405. 

"2  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  834,  835,  836;  Code  of  1873,  Sees.  1374, 
1375;  and  Code  of  1897,  Sees.  2243,  2244. 

183  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1376.  According  to  the  Code  of  1851  and 
the  Eevision  of  1860  the  proceeds  from  the  labor  of  paupers  received 
into  the  poorhouse  were  to  be  so  appropriated. 

is*  See  the  writer's  paper  on  The  County  Homes  of  Iowa,  in  the 
Proceedings  of  the  Thirteenth  Iowa  State  Conference  of  Charities  and 
Correction,  1911,  p.  46,  for  the  sentiments  of  some  poorhouse  stewards 
of  Iowa. 

CHAPTEE  VIII 

iss  See  above  p.  14.  See  also  Chase's  Statutes  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I, 
pp.  513-515. 

IBS  See  above  pp.  51,  54,  65. 

IST  Code  of  1851,  Sees.  789,  795,  799-802,  813,  837;  Eevision  of 
1860,  Sees.  1381,  1403-1405;  and  Code  of  1897,  Sees.  2227,  2244. 


NOTES  AND  REFERENCES  361 

iss  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  814;  and  Revision  of  1860,  Sec.  1382. 

189  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  819;  Bevision  of  1860,  Sec.  1387;  Code  of 
187S,  Sec.  1364;  and  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  2233. 

i»o  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  827;  Revision  of  1860,  Sec.  1395;  Code  of 
187 'S,  Sec.  1371;  and  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  2240. 

191  Code  of  1851,  Sees.  820,  821,  823. 

192  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  838. 

193  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  846. 

is*  Code  of  1873,  Sees.  1344,  1361. 

195  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1364. 

196  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1366. 
i9T  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1365. 

198  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1377. 

199  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1368. 

200  Code  of  1897,  Sees.  2216,  2218,  2219,  2220,  2226,  2227,  2230, 
2234,  2235,  2236,  2240,  2244,  2251;  and  Seport  of  the  Code  Commis- 
sion, 1896,  p.  65,  Sec.  15. 

2°i  See    Aschrott    and    Preston-Thomas 's    The    English   Poor-Law 
System,  p.  6. 

202  See  above,  pp.  3,  4. 

203  See  above,  p.  51. 

204  See  note  58,  above,  and  p.  65. 

205  Code  of  1851,  Sees.  824,  827. 

206  Bevision  of  1860,  Sees.  1392,  1395. 

207  Code  of  1873,  Sees.  1330-1382. 

zos  Beport  of  the  Code  Commission,  1873,  Title  XI,  Sec.  39. 

209  Beport  of  the  Code  Commission,  1873,  Title  XI,  Sec.  32. 

210  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1361. 

211  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  2230;  and  Beport  of  the  Code  Commission, 
1896,  pp.  64,  65,  Title  XII,  Sec.  15. 


362      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

CHAPTER  IX 

212  See  Ashrott  and  Preston-Thomas's  The  English  Poor-Law  Sys- 
tem, pp.  7,  15,  16. 

213  The  first  suggestion  concerning  a  workhouse  for  the  able-bodied 
is  to  be  found  in  a  pamphlet  published  in  1646,  entitled  Stanley's 
Remedy.     An  ordinance  was  passed  in  London  in  1647  providing  for  a 
corporation  to  establish  a  workhouse.     One  was  established  at  Black- 
friars  and  another  at  Minories  about  1655.     Sir  Matthew  Hale  advo- 
cated their  establishment  in  1683  and  Thomas  Firman  in  1687.     Un- 
der special  act  of  Parliament  one  was  established  at  Bristol  in  1697, 
at  Worcester  in  1703,  and  at  Plymouth  and  other  places  in  1707.  The 
general  introduction  of  institutions  of  this  character  was  authorized 
by  an  act  9  George  I,  c.  7  of  1723.     See  Aschrott  and  Preston-Thom- 
as's The  English  Poor-Law  System,  pp.  15,  16;  and  Gray's  A  History 
of  English,  Philanthropy,  pp.  72,  73. 

214  See  above,  p.  56. 

215  Revision  of  1860,  Sec.  1354. 

216  Laws  of  Iowa,  1858,  Ch.  158,  Sec.  81 ;  and  Revision  of  1860,  Sec. 
1111. 

2ir  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  538. 

218  Report  of  the  Code  Commission,  1873,  Title  XI,  Ch.  I,  Sec.  43. 

219  Report  of  the  Code  Commission,  1873,  Title  XI,  Ch.  I,  Sec.  32. 

220  The  inconsistency  is  even  more  striking  when  one  compares  the 
last  part  of  Sec.  538,  giving  the  city  council  the  authority  ' '  to  pro- 
vide for  the  distribution  of  out-door  relief  to  the  poor ' ',  and  Sec. 
1361,  giving  the  supervisors  the  power  to  appoint  in  cities  of  the  first 
or  second  class  an  overseer  of  the  poor  to  attend  to  the  outdoor  relief. 
One  can  not  but  feel  from  the  remarks  of  the  Code  Commission  on 
the  latter  section  that  it  expresses  their  real  intent  in  the  matter  and 
that  the  former  section  was  but  a  survival  which  escaped  elimination 
by  an  oversight.     See  Code  of  187S,  Sees.  538,  1361;  and  Report  of 
the  Code  Commission,  1873,  Title  XI,  Ch.  I,  Sec.  32. 

221  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1841-1842,  pp.  83-85. 

222  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1841-1842,  pp.  83-85;  and  Code 
of  1851,  Sees.  828-847. 


NOTES  AND  REFERENCES  363 

223  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1841-1842,  pp.  83  ff;  and  Code 
of  1851,  Sees.  834-837. 

224  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1376. 

225  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1374. 

226  Code  of  1897,  Sees.  2243-2246. 

227  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1376. 

228  A  striking  example  of  this  attitude  is  furnished  in  a  letter  to 
the  writer  by  a  steward  of  a  "county  home"  of  Iowa  in  reply  to  a 
questionaire  sent  out  for  the  purpose  of  gathering  information  con- 
cerning the  poorhouses  of  Iowa.     The  writer  of  the  letter  wrote  upon 
a  letterhead  which  was  graced  with  a  cut  which  showed  chiefly  barns, 
sheds,  and  yards  with  the  poorhouse  itself  partly  hidden  by  some 
trees,  and  with  an  advertisement  of  "Barred  Plymouth  Eock  chick- 
ens" and  "standard  bred  poland-china  hogs".     Moreover,  he  said  in 
his  letter  that  during  his  administration  this  farm  had  built  up  a 
great  reputation  for  its  fine  chickens  and  hogs.    There  was  not  a  word 
as  to  the  nature  of  the  house  for  the  inmates,  or  of  the  provisions 
for  their  care,  of  how  happy  they  were  there,  or  of  whether  the  poor- 
house  was  a  place  to  which  sick  or  friendless  or  old  people  were  glad 
to  come.     There  was  nothing  about  the  reputation  of  the  poorhouse 
as  a  real  ' '  county  home ' '.     See  the  Proceedings  of  the  Thirteenth 
Iowa  State  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction,  1911,  p.  46. 

229  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1841-1842,  pp.  83-85. 

230  Code  of  1851,  Sees.  820,  837,  838;  and  Eevision  of  1860,  Sec. 
1405. 

231  Code  of  1873,  Sees.  1375,  1377;  and  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  2244. 

232  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1841-1842,  p.  85,  Sec.  11. 

233  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  840 ;  Eevision  of  1860,  Sec.  1408 ;  Code  of 
1873,  Sec.  1379;  and  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  2245. 

234  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1841-1842,  p.  84,  Sec.  7. 

235  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  839 ;  and  Eevision  of  1860,  Sec.  1407. 

236  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1378. 

237  Report  of  the  Code  Commission,  1896,  pp.  65,  93. 

2ss  Laws  of  Iowa,  1878,  Ch.  166 ;  and  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  2249. 


364      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

239  Laws  of  Iowa,  1866,  p.  83. 

240  Journal  of  the  Souse  of  Representatives,  1874,  pp.  61,  67,  68, 
107,  108,  120,  131,  132,  137,  272.     No  less  than  fifteen  such  petitions 
were  presented  to  the  legislature  in  1874. 

241  Laws  of  Iowa,  1876,  Ch.  94. 

242  Governor  Gear  in  his  first  biennial  message  (January  13,  1880) 
said  that  on  October  1,  1879,  there  were  26  girls  and  44  boys  over 
five  years  of  age  in  the  poorhouses  in  sixteen  counties  of  the  State. — 
Shambaugh's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  ihe  Governors  of  Iowa, 
Vol.  V,  pp.  37-39. 

Two  years  later  Governor  Gear  reported  that  there  were  85  children 
under  five  years  of  age,  54  between  five  and  ten  years,  and  28  between 
ten  and  fifteen  years  of  age,  a  total  of  167,  in  Iowa  poorhouses. — 
See  Shambaugh's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  V,  p.  124.  See  Vol.  V,  p.  340  for  a  statement  by  Gover- 
nor Sherman. 

In  1911  the  writer  found  twenty-one  children  in  thirteen  "county 
homes".  It  should  be  added  that  most  of  these  were  less  than  two 
years  old.  See  the  Proceedings  of  the  Thirteenth  Iowa  State  Confer- 
ence of  Charities  and  Correction,  1911,  p.  42. 

243  For    details    concerning   the    care    of    dependent    children    see 
above,  Chap.  XI. 

2*4  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  837;  and  Eevision  of  1860,  Sec.  1405.  One 
must  remember  that  in  the  latter  Code  instead  of  the  word  ' '  judge ' ' 
one  should  read  "board  of  supervisors". 

245  gee  above,  p.  7. 

246  Laws  of  Iowa,  1868,  Ch.  95,  Sec.  2;  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1362; 
Laws  of  Iowa,  1878,  Ch.  37;  and  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  2231.     The  code 
commission  of  1896  had  provided  only  for  all  Union  soldiers,  their 
widows  and  families,  but  the  legislature  made  the  law  include  former 
members  of  the  navy  also. —  See  the  "Black  Code",  1896,  pp.  437-443, 
Sec.  16. 

247  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1841-1842,  p.  85,  Sec.  13. 

248  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  844;  Eevision  of  1860,  Sec.  1412;  and  Code 
of  1873,  Sec.  1381. 

249  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  2247. 


NOTES  AND  REFERENCES  365 

250  Eeport  of  the  Visiting  Committee  to  the  Governor,  November 
30,  1875,  in  the  Iowa  Legislative  Documents,  1876,  Vol.  Ill,  No.  21, 
pp.  16,  17,  Appendix  pp.  25-27.     For  the  law  creating  the  Visiting 
Committee  see  Laws  of  Iowa,  1872,  Ch.  183. 

251  Shambaugh  'B  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  IV,  p.  157;  and  Iowa  Documents,  1876,  Vol.  Ill,  No.  21, 
p.  8.     Governor  Carpenter  in  his  first  biennial  message  (January  23, 
1874)  stated  that  the  original  bill  providing  for  a  visiting  committee 
for  the  insane  asylums,  passed  on  April  23,  1872,  had  "elicited  a  live- 
ly discussion ' ',  and  that  when  finally  passed  into  law  it  was  with  some 
reluctance  that  he  had  signed  it.     He  added,  ' '  I  believe,  however,  the 
report  of  the  committee  will  vindicate  the  wisdom  of  the  law." — 
Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of  Iowa, 
Vol.  IV,  p.  72. 

252  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  V,  p.  159.     At  this  time,  according  to  Governor  Gear,  there 
were  1304  persons  either  in  poorhouses  or  outside  of  them  who  were 
receiving  public  relief  in  Iowa. 

253  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  VI,  p.  353. 

254  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  21-23,  38-40. 

255  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  145,  146. 

256  Doubtless  the  report  of  the  Healy  Investigating  Committee  on 
State  Institutions,  appointed  by  the  Senate  two  years  before,  giv- 
ing the  results  of  a  rather  searching  investigation  of  the  various  State 
institutions  and  pointing  out  the  economic  wastes  which  were  oc- 
curring under  the  separate  boards  of  trustees,  had  much  to  do  with 
the  creation  of  this  Board  of  Control.     For  this  report,  see  Journal  of 
the  Senate,  1898,  pp.  109-179. 

257  Laws  of  Iowa,  1900,  Ch.  144.     A  joint  resolution  for  a  commis- 
sion of  three  to  investigate  poorhouses  in  which  insane  were  kept  had 
been  proposed  in  the  Senate  in  1898.  —  Journal  of  the  Senate,  1898, 
pp.  899,  900,  978.     But  when  the  Board  of  Control  act  was  enacted  a 
substitute  resolution  was  passed  giving  this  work  to  the  new  Board. 


366      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

CHAPTEE  X 

258  See  above  Chapter  XI,  p.  220,  for  the  details. 

259  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1839-1840,  pp.  83,  84 ;  and  Laws 
of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1841-1842,  pp.  58,  59,  Sec.  6. 

seo  gee  above,  Ch.  VII,  p.  140. 

261  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1839-1840,  p.  83,  Sec.  3. 

262  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1841-1842,  pp.  58,  59. 

263  Code  of  1851,  Sees.  825-827;  Revision  of  1860,  Sees.  1393-1395; 
Code  of  1873,  Sees.  1369-1371;  and  Code  of  1897,  Sees.  2238-2240. 

26*  In  the  Territorial  law  of  1840  alone  was  provision  made  for  the 
care  of  such  persons  without  proceedings  to  have  the  county  of  legal 
settlement  pay  for  the  temporary  relief.  See  Laws  of  the  Territory 
of  Iowa,  1839-1840,  pp.  83,  84,  Sees.  5,  6,  7;  Laws  of  the  Territory  of 
Iowa,  1841-1842,  p.  59,  Sees.  7-10;  Code  of  1851,  Sees.  814,  824; 
Revision  of  1860,  Sees.  1379,  1392;  Code  of  1873,  Sees.  1354,  1357; 
and  Code  of  1897,  Sees.  2225,  2229. 

265  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  822 ;  and  Revision  of  1860,  Sec.  1390. 

266  Code  of  1873,  Sec.  1367;  and  Code  of  1897,  Sees.  2230,  2234, 
2236. 

2«7  See  above,  pp.  175,  278-284. 

268  Laws  of  Iowa,  1868,  pp.  130,  131. 

269  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  2231. 

270  Laws  of  Iowa,  1864,  p.  99.     The  details  of  this  act  and  those 
amendatory  thereto  have  been  discussed  in  Chapter  XIII. 

271  At  least  that  was  the  case  in  1911  when  the  writer  made  an  in- 
vestigation of  the  cost  of  poor  relief  in  Iowa.  See  the  writer's  paper 
on  The  County  Homes  of  Iowa,  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Thirteenth 
Iowa  State  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction,  1911,  p.  44. 

272  The  Development   of  Public   Charities   and   Correction  in   the 
State  of  Indiana,  1910,  p.  125. 

CHAPTEE  XI 

273  Laws  of  Michigan  Extended  over  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin  by 
the  Organic  Act,  pp.  94-96  (bound  with  the  Laws  of  First  Legislative 


NOTES  AND  REFERENCES  367 

Session  of  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin) ;  and  Laws  of  the  Territory  of 
Iowa,  1839-1840,  Ch.  24,  pp.  29-31. 

274  Code  of  1851,  Ch.  49,  and  Sec.  788. 

275  Revision  of  1860,  Ch.  58,  Sec.  1420. 

276  Code  of  187S,  Sees.  4721,  4722. 

277  See  the  case  of  State  vs.  Shoemaker,  62  Iowa  343,  cited  by 
McClain  in  his  Code  of  1888,  under  Sec.  6113. 

278  See  pp.  187-189. 

279  See   Governor   Stone 's   second   biennial   message,   January   14, 
1868,  in  Shambaugh's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors 
of  Iowa,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  104.     The  one  at  Cedar  Falls  was  established, 
with  five  orphans,  on  September  28,  1865,  in  an  old  building  built  for 
a  hotel. —  See  Memorial  in  Belation  to  the  Iowa  Orphans '  Home,  p. 
35,  in  the  Iowa  Legislative  Documents,  1868,  Vol.  II.     The  Davenport 
Home  had  been  established  earlier. 

280  Laws  of  Iowa,  1866,  p.  84. 

281  Shambaugh's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  104.     The  branch  at  Glenwood  was  opened  in  No- 
vember, 1866,  because  the  others  were  located  so  far  from  the  western 
part  of  the  State. —  Report  of  Iowa  Soldiers  Orphans'  Home,  p.  6,  in 
the  Iowa  Legislative  Documents,  1868,  Vol.  II. 

282  Laws  of  Iowa,  1866,  pp.  85,  86. 

283  See  reports  in  Iowa  Legislative  Documents,  1868,  Vol.  II ;  and 
Shambaugh's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of  Iowa, 
Vol.  Ill,  pp.  416,  417. 

2*4  Laws  of  Iowa,  1868,  Ch.  66,  Sec.  7;   and  Code  of  1873,  See. 
1634. 

285  Governor    Merrill 's    first    biennial    message,    in    Shambaugh  's 
Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of  Iowa,  Vol.  Ill,  pp. 
289-291.     The  rapid  increase  in  the  number  of  inmates  in  the  institu- 
tions after  the  State  assumed  charge  of  them  indicates  a  tendency  to 
commit  to  an  institution  in  the  first  burst  of  enthusiasm  over  a  new 
measure  children  who  had  been  cared  for  otherwise  up  to  that  time. 

286  Laws  of  Iowa,  1874  (Private),  pp.  70,  71. 

287  Laws  of  Iowa,  1876,  Ch.  94. 


368      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 


288  Journal  of  the  House  of  'Representatives,  1874,  pp.  371,  506, 
532,  555,  556. 

^89  He  says  that  while  on  November  1,  1873,  there  were  508  chil- 
dren in  the  three  Homes,  on  November  1,  1876,  there  were  but  298. — 
Shambaugh's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of  Iowa, 
Vol.  IV,  pp.  158,  159. 

290  Laws  of  Iowa,  1876,  Ch.  94.     See  Governor  Drake's  biennial 
message,  January  11,  1898,  in  Shambaugh's  Messages  and  Proclama- 
tions of  the  Governors  of  Iowa,  Vol.  VII,  p.  138. 

291  Iowa  Legislative  Documents,  1872,  Vol.  II,  No.  19,  p.  6. 

292  The  fluctuations  in  the  number  of  soldiers '  orphans  may  be 
seen  from  the  following  table: 


DATE 

CEDAR 
FALLS 

DAVEN- 
PORT 

GLEN- 
WOOD 

TOTAL  SOLDIERS 
AND  INDIGENT 
ORPHANS 

SOLDIERS  ' 
ORPHANS 

COUNTY 
ORPHANS 

1866 

175 

349 

8 

532 

1867 

280 

541 

27 

848 

1869 

300 

405 

68 

773 

1871 

288 

310 

120 

718 

1873 

256 

154 

98 

508 

1875 

189 

109 

298 

1877 

139 

180 

41 

1879 

92 

130 

38 

1881 

76 

169 

93 

1883 

68 

218 

150 

1885 

47 

280 

233 

1887 

42 

293 

251 

1889 

88 

370 

282 

1891 

300 

198 

202 

1893 

413 

213 

200 

1895 

458 

248 

210 

1897 

487 

297 

190 

1899 

445 

260 

185 

1901 

439 

265 

174 

1903 

491 

271 

220 

1905 

444 

195 

249 

1906 

491 

195 

296 

1908 

501 

138 

363 

1910 

554 

89 

465 

NOTES  AND  REFERENCES 


369 


288  The  number  of  pension  claims,  pensioners,  and  disbursements, 
1891-1905,  are  shown  in  the  following  table: 


FISCAL 
YEAR 
ENDING 
JUNE  30 

TOTAL  No. 
OF  ORIGINAL 
CLAIMS 
ALLOWED 

No.  OF  PENSIONERS  ON  THE  ROLL 

PAID  AS 
PENSIONS 

INVALIDS 

WIDOWS, 

ETC. 

TOTAL 

1891  

156,486 
224,047 
121,630 
39,085 
39,185 
40,374 
50,101 
52,648 
37,077 
40,645 
44,868 
40,173 
40,136 
44,296 
50,027 

536,821 
703,242 
759,706 
754,382 
750,951 
747,967 
746,829 
760,853 
753,451 
751,864 
747,999 
738,809 
728,732 
720,315 
717,158 

139,339 
172,826 
206,306 
215,162 
219,567 
222,557 
229,185 
232,861 
238,068 
241,674 
249,736 
260,637 
267,813 
274,447 
281,283 

676,160 
876,068 
966,012 
909,544 
970,524 
970,678 
976,014 
993,714 
991,519 
993,529 
997,735 
999,446 
996,545 
994,762 
998,441 

$117,312,690.50 
139,394,147.11 
156,906,637.94 
139,986,726.17 
139,812,294.30 
138,220,704.46 
139,949,717.35 
144,651,879.80 
138,355,052.95 
138,462,130.65 
138,531,483.84 
137,504,267.99 
137,759,653.71 
141,093,571.49 
141,142,861.33 

1892  

1893  

1894  

1895  

1896  

1897  

1898  

1899  

1900  

1901  

1902  

1903  

1904  

1905  

—  The  World  Almanac,  1912,  p.  174. 
2»*  Laws  of  Iowa,  1898,  Ch.  118. 

295  First  Biennial  Report  of  the  Board  of  Control  of  State  Institu- 
tions, 1899,  p.  106. 

296  Laws  of  Iowa,  1906,  Ch.  126. 

297  Laws  of  Iowa,  1906,  Ch.  127. 
2»8  Laws  of  Iowa,  1906,  Ch.  181. 
299  Laws  of  Iowa,  1911,  Ch.  133. 

soo  Journal  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  1874,  pp.  61,  67,  68, 
80,  107,  108,  120,  131,  132,  137,  272. 

301  There  were  at  least  thirteen  presented.  —  Journal  of  the  Senate, 
1874,  pp.  20,  42,  58,  72,  101,  125,  132,  149,  206,  207. 

302  Shambaugh  's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  IV,  p.  59. 


370      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

303  Shambaugh  'a  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  158,  159. 

304  Laws  of  Iowa,  1876,  Ch.  94. 

305  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  V,  pp.  37,  38. 

soe  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  V,  pp.  39,  40. 

SOT  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  V,  p.  124. 

sos  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  V,  p.  286. 

309  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  V,  p.  340. 

310  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  VII,  p.  138. 

311  First  Biennial  Report  of  the  Board  of  Control  of  State  Insti- 
tutions, 1899,  pp.  106,  116. 

312  Second  Biennial  Report  of  the  Board  of  Control  of  State  Insti- 
tutions, 1901,  pp.  68,  69. 

sis  Laws  of  Iowa,  1904,  Ch.  106,  Sec.  2 ;  and  Supplement  to  the 
Code,  1907,  Sec.  2692. 

si*  Seventh  Biennial  Report  of  the  Board  of  Control  of  State  Insti- 
tutions, 1910,  pp.  39,  40.  See  also  the  Eighth  Biennial  Report,  1912, 
p.  40. 

sis  Laws  of  Iowa,  1913,  Ch.  229.  By  reference  to  the  table  given 
in  note  292,  the  reason  will  be  apparent. 

sis  Governor's  Message,  p.  23,  in  Iowa  Legislative  Documents, 
1906,  Vol.  I. 

SIT  Proceedings  of  the  Thirteenth  Iowa  State  Conference  of  Chari- 
ties and  Correction,  1911,  p.  42;  and  Eighth  Biennial  Report  of  the 
Board  of  Control  of  State  Institutions,  1912,  p.  558.  The  latter  gives 
the  number  under  fifteen  years  of  age  as  twenty-seven  in  eleven  coun- 
ties, June  30,  1912. 

sis  Laws  of  Iowa,  1847-1848,  p.  95. 


NOTES  AND  REFERENCES  371 

319  Laws  of  Iowa,  1872,  Ch.  159. 

320  Laws  of  Iowa,  1878,  Ch.  176. 

321  Laws  of  Iowa,  1902,  Ch.  133. 

322  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  839. 

323  Code  of  1851,  Sec.  1519. 

32*  Revision  of  1860,  Sees.  1407,  2576. 

325  Code  of  1873,  Sees.  1378,  2283;  and  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  3234. 


326  Lows  of  Iowa,  1868,  Ch.  66,  Sec.  7;  and  Code  of  1873,  Sec. 
1634. 

327  Shambaugh  's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  314,  315. 

328  Shambaugh  's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  368,  369. 

329  Laws  of  Iowa,  1906,  Ch.  181,  Sec.  2;  and  Supplement  to  the 
Code,  1907,  Sec.  2692-b. 

330  Laws  of  Iowa,  1904,  Ch.  11. 

331  Laws  of  Iowa,  1909,  Ch.  14. 

332  Laws  of  Iowa,  1909,  Ch.  13. 

333  Laws  of  Iowa,  1913,  Ch.  271. 

334  Laws  of  Iowa,  1913,  Ch.  31. 

CHAPTEE  XII 

335  Laws  of  Iowa,  1860,  Ch.  161,  in  Revision  of  1860.     See  Sec. 
1491. 

336  Revision  of  1860,  See.  1442. 
33T  Laws  of  Iowa,  1866,  Ch.  132. 

338  Iowa  Legislative  Documents,  1874,  Vol.  II,  No.  18-a,  pp.  17,  18. 
839  Iowa  Legislative  Documents,  1876,  Vol.  Ill,  No.  21,  p.  17. 

340  Shambaugh  's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  IV,  p.  159. 

341  Laws  of  Iowa,  1876,  Ch.  152. 


372      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

342  Laws  of  Iowa,  1880,  Ch.  164;  and  Shambaugh's  Messages  and 
Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of  Iowa,  Vol.  V,  p.  127. 

so  Laws  of  Iowa,  1882,  Ch.  40. 

34*  Shambaugh  'B  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  VII,  p.  35. 

345  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  2739. 

846  First  "Biennial  Report  of  the  Board  of  Control  of  State  Insti- 
tutions, 1899,  p.  107. 

347  Laws  of  Iowa,  1902,  Ch.  118. 

348  Laws  of  Iowa,  1909,  Ch.  173. 

349  Laws  of  Iowa,  1911,  Ch.  129.     This  law,  as  far  as  it  affected 
criminals,  was  declared  unconstitutional  by  the  United  States  District 
Court  for  the  Southern  District  of  Iowa  in  June,  1914.  —  The  Regis- 
ter and  Leader  (Des  Moines),  June  25,  1914. 

350  Laws  of  Iowa,  1913,  House  Joint  Eesolution  No.  16. 

351  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1838-1839,  pp.  275,  276. 

352  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1840-1841,  Ch.  61,  pp.  49-52. 

353  Code  of  1851,  Ch.  50,  pp.  134-136;  Revision  of  1860,  Sec.  1442. 
The  law  of  March  23,  1858  (Laws  of  Iowa,  1858,  Ch.  141),  put  the 
matter  in  the  hands  of  the  probate  court.     See  the  Revision  of  1860, 
See.  1449.     In  the  Code  of  1873,  Sees.  1395-1445,  the  county  insanity 
commissioners  had  appeared. 

854  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  I,  p.  453. 

355  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  II,  pp.  87-91.     Governor  Grimes  said  that  the  General  As- 
sembly four  years  before  had  voted  to  devote  the  proceeds  of  the 
saline  lands  of  the  State  to  the  establishment  of  an  insane  asylum. 

356  Parish's  A  Study  in  Administration,  pp.  243,  245,  247. 

357  Laws  of  Iowa,  1858,  Ch.  141,  Sec.  60. 

358  Laws  of  Iowa,  1858,  Ch.  141,  Sees.  26,  30,  60.     The  codifiers  of 
1860  were  uncertain  as  to  whether  these  provisions  were  still  the  law 
of  the  State  or  not,  since  this  act  was  probably  repealed  by  the  Eighth 


NOTES  AND  REFERENCES  373 

General  Assembly  in  Ch.  161.     See  note  to  the  Revision  of  1860,  p. 
235. 

359  Revision  of  1860,  Sees  1442,  4485. 

360  Revision  of  1860,  Sees.  1479,  1488,  1495. 

SGI  Shambaugh  's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  II,  p.  287. 

362  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  II,  p.  286. 

ses  Laws  of  Iowa,  1868,  Ch.  179. 

364  pari8h'8  A  Study  in  Administration,  p.  247;  and  Fourth  Bi- 
ennial Report  of  the  Superintendent  of  the  Iowa  Hospital  for  the  In- 
sane, pp.  34-36,  in  the  Iowa  Legislative  Documents,  1868,  Vol.  II. 

ses  Laics  of  Iowa,  1870,  Ch.  109,  p.  121. 

see  Code  of  187S,  Sees.  1403,  1426. 

367  Iowa  Legislative  Documents,  1872,  No.  15,  p.  12. 

ses  Report  of  the  State  Visiting  Committee  for  the  Iowa  Hospitals 
for  Insane  made  to  the  Governor,  November  30,  1875,  in  the  Iowa 
Legislative  Documents,  1876,  Vol.  Ill,  No.  21,  pp.  15,  16,  17. 

369  Iowa  Legislative  Documents,  1880,  Vol.  Ill,  No.  26,  pp.  4,  5. 

370  First  Biennial  Report  of  the  Board  of  Control  of  State  Insti- 
tutions, 1899,  pp.  122-128. 

371  Iowa  Legislative  Documents,  1880,  Vol.  Ill,  No.  26,  pp.  4,  5. 
From  the  report  of  the  Visiting  Committee  it  would  appear  that  the 
Board  of  Control  was  quite  too  charitable  in  its  judgment  of  the 
county  authorities  twenty  years  before.     They  do  not  appear  from 
the'se  figures  quite  as  virtuous  as  the  Board  would  make  them  appear. 

372  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  VI,  p.  112;  and  Report  of  the  Investigation  Relative  to 
the  Methods  of  Business  Records,  Accounts  and  Vouchers  of  State  In- 
stitutions, ~by  J.  W.  Rich  to  the  Governor  of  Iowa,  Des  Moines,  1890, 
printed  by  order  of  the  Governor. 

373  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  2271. 

374  Iowa  Legislative  Documents,  1876,  Vol.  Ill,  No.  21,  pp.  16,  17. 


374      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

375  Second  Biennial  Report  of  the  Board  of  Control  of  State  In- 
stitutions, 1901,  p.  68. 

376  First  Biennial  Report  of  the  Board  of  Control  of  State  Institu- 
tions, 1899,  pp.  125-128. 

The  Board  of  Control  in  1903  reported  after  noting  the  number  of 
insane  present  in  county  institutions  that  ' '  in  few,  if  any,  of  the 
county  and  private  institutions  are  the  inmates  so  well  cared  for  as 
they  would  be  if  in  the  state  hospitals.  This  fact  should  be  sufficient 
to  prevent  the  construction  of  new  county  institutions  for  the  in- 
sane and  is  a  strong  argument  in  favor  of  closing  those  already  in 
existence. ' ' —  Third  Biennial  Report  of  the  Board  of  Control  of  State 
Institutions,  103,  p.  28.  The  following  figures  will  indicate  the  extent 
to  which  the  practice  of  sending  incurable  insane  to  county  and  pri- 
vate institutions  had  gone: 

NUMBER  OP  INSANE  IN  COUNTY  INSTITUTIONS 

June  30,  1899 991 

June  30,  1901 971 

June  30,  1903 904 

NUMBER  OP  COUNTY  INSTITUTIONS  FOR  INSANE 

1900 52 

1901 54 

1902 55 

1903 52 

NUMBER  OP  PRIVATE  INSTITUTIONS  CARING  FOR  INSANE 

June  30,  1901 4 

June  30,  1903 4 

NUMBER  IN  PRIVATE  INSTITUTIONS 

June  30,  1899 384 

June  30,  1901 433 

June  30,  1903 474 

In  1900-1901  there  were  fifty-two  county  institutions  in  which  in- 
sane were  kept  and  four  private  institutions.  In  twelve  additional 
counties  there  were  kept  people  whom  the  stewards  regarded  as  in- 
sane but  who  had  never  been  so  adjudged.  That  remained  practical- 
ly the  situation  in  1912.  There  were  in  these  institutions  the  follow- 
ing numbers  of  insane: 


NOTES  AND  REFERENCES  375 

June  30,  1899 1375 

June  30,  1900 1393 

June  30,  1901 1404 

June  30,  1911 1551 

See  Second  Biennial  Eeport  of  the  Board  of  Control  of  State  In- 
stitutions, 1901,  p.  56;  and  Eighth  Biennial  Eeport  of  the  Board  of 
Control  of  State  Institutions,  1912,  pp.  546-564. 

377  Laws  of  Iowa,  1909,  Ch.  26,  Sec.  16. 

378  One  wonders  whether  the  law  providing  for  the  inspection  and 
regulation  of  county  poorhouses  containing  insane  persons  by  the 
Board  of  Control  has  not  had  much  to  do  in  leading  counties  to  segre- 
gate the  insane  from  the  other  paupers  so  that  the  Board  of  Control's 
inspection  and  regulation  would  apply  only  to  the  part  of  the  insti- 
tutions devoted  to  the  insane  rather  than  to  the  entire  poorhouse. 

379  Iowa  Legislative  Documents,  1876,  Vol.  Ill,  No.  21,  pp.  21,  22. 

380  Shambaugh  's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  IV,  p.  159. 

381  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  V,  pp.  47,  48. 

382  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  V,  p.  132. 

383  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  ihe  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  V,  p.  288. 

384  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  30,  31. 

sss  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  2308. 

sse  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  VII,  p.  145. 

387  Laws  of  Iowa,  1900,  Ch.  144;  Supplement  to  the  Code,  1907, 
Sec.  2727-a58-66;  Second  Biennial  Eeport  of  the  Board  of  Control  of 
State  Institutions,  1901,  pp.  55,  56;  and  Third  Biennial  Eeport  of 
the  Board  of  Control  of  State  Institutions,  1903,  p.  28. 

sss  Laws  of  Iowa,  1913,  Ch.  235. 

of  Iowa,  1886,  Ch.  47;  and  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  2283. 


376      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

390  Laws  of  Iowa,  1907,  Ch.  118. 

391  Laws  of  Iowa,  1892,  Ch.  24. 

392  Laws  of  Iowa,  1904,  Ch.  78 ;  Supplement  to  the  Code,  1907,  Sec. 
2308-a ;  and  Laws  of  Iowa,  1913,  Ch.  183.     In  New  York  this  is  cared 
for  by  the  Department  of  State,  Alien  and  Indian  Poor  of  the  State 
Board  of  Charities.  —  See  Forty-fourth  Annual  Eeport  of  the  State 
Board  of  Charities  of  the  State  of  New  York,  1911,  Vol.  I,  pp.  154- 
156. 

393  Laws  of  Iowa,  1906,  Ch.  92,  Sec.  1. 
39*  Laws  of  Iowa,  1911,  Ch.  98. 

395  Code  of  1851,  Ch.  73;  Laws  of  Iowa,  1848-1849,  Ch.  121,  p.  148. 
soe  Laws  of  Iowa,  1854-1855,  Ch.  87. 

397  Shambaugh  's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  II,  pp.  338,  339.     Besides  this  institution  there  were  at 
this  time  in  existence  in  the  State  of  Iowa  only  the  Asylum  for  the 
Blind  and  the  Insane  Asylum. 

398  Journal  of  the  House  of  'Representatives,  1868,  p.  155. 

399  Laws  of  Iowa,  1868,  Ch.  107. 

400  Laws  of  Iowa,  1868,  Ch.  106. 

401  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  2739. 

*<>2Laws  of  Iowa,  1848-1849,  Ch.  121;  Code  of  1851,  Ch.  73. 

*03  Laws  of  Iowa,  1852-1853,  p.  47.  The  name  was  changed  to  the 
"Institution  for  the  Education  of  the  Blind"  by  an  act  approved  on 
January  22,  1855.  —  Laws  of  Iowa,  1854-1855,  p.  81.  It  was  again 
changed  to  the  ' '  Iowa  College  for  the  Blind "  by  an  act  approved  on 
April  6,  1872.  —  Laws  of  Iowa,  1872  (private),  p.  45. 

404  Laws  of  Iowa,  1854-1855,  Ch.  56. 

405  Laws  of  Iowa,  1866,  Ch.  43,  Sec.  7. 

406  House  Journal,  1868,  pp.  239,  321. 

407  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamation  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  VI,  p.  145. 

408  Laws  of  Iowa,  1890,  Ch.  53 ;  and  Laws  of  Iowa,  1900,  Ch.  103, 
Sec.  1. 


NOTES  AND  REFERENCES  377 

409  Code  of  1851,  Ch.  73;  and  Code  of  1897,  See.  2739. 

410  Laws  of  Iowa,  1911,  Ch.  141. 

4n  Laws  of  Michigan  in  force  in  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin,  1838, 
pp.  208-210.     This  law  was  repealed  on  August  30,  1840. 

412  Code  of  1873,  Sees.  2272,  2273;  and  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  3219. 

413  Shambaugh  's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  IV,  p.  159. 

41 4  Law*  of  Iowa,  1902,  Ch.  93,  Sees.  1,  2,  5.     Third  Biennial  Ee- 
port  of  the  Board  of  Control  of  State  Institutions,  1903,  pp.  34-36. 

415  Laws  of  Iowa,  1904,  Ch.  80. 

416  Laws  of  Iowa,  1904,  Ch.  80,  Sec.  10. 

417  Laws  of  Iowa,  1906,  Ch.  94.     The  supervisors  each  year  were 
required  to  estimate  the  amount  necessary  for  this  purpose  and  levy 
a  special  tax  therefor.     This  fund  was  not  to  be  used  for  any  other 
purpose.     If,  however,  no  special  tax  was  levied  for  this  purpose,  the 
amount  was  to  be  paid  out  of  the  general  county  fund. 

418  Laws  of  Iowa,  1913,  Ch.  184. 

419  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  VII,  p.  32. 

420  First  Biennial  Eeport  of  the  Board  of  Control  of  State  Insti- 
tutions, 1899,  p.  119. 

421  Third  Biennial  Eeport  of  the  Board  of  Control  of  State  Institu- 
tions, 1903,  p.  40. 

422  Biennial  Message  of  B.  F.  Carroll,  January,  1911,  p.  26,  in  the 
Iowa  Legislative  Documents,  1911,  Vol.  I. 

423  Laws  of  Iowa,  1911,  Ch.  129. 

424  Laws  of  Iowa,  1913,  Ch.  236. 

CHAPTEE  XIII 

425  See  above,  p.  175. 

426  Laws  of  Iowa,  1888,  Ch.  105 ;  Laws  of  Iowa,  1892,  Ch.  69,  Sec. 
1 ;  Laws  of  Iowa,  1904,  Ch.  17,  Sec.  2 ;  and  Laws  of  Iowa,  1909,  Chs. 


378      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

30,  31.  These  acts  are  simply  examples  of  a  series  of  acts  passed  at 
various  times.  For  instance,  an  act  was  passed  on  April  7,  1884, 
which  first  provided  for  the  burial  of  soldiers,  sailors  and  marines  of 
the  United  States  who  served  during  the  War,  and  limited  the  funeral 
expenses  to  thirty -five  dollars.  —  Laws  of  Iowa,  1884,  Ch.  178.  The 
Code  of  1897,  Sec.  433,  provided  that  burial  of  these  classes  was  not 
to  be  in  that  part  of  the  cemetery  used  exclusively  for  paupers. 

427  Shambaugh  's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  V,  p.  375. 

428  Laws  of  Iowa,  1886,  Ch.  58. 

429  Laws  of  Iowa,  1892,  Ch.  95.     The  Code  of  1897,  Sec.  2606,  add- 
ed the  limitation  that  their  wives  and  widows  were  to  be  admitted 
only  if  they  had  become  the  wives  of  soldiers,  sailors,  or  marines  be- 
fore 1885.     In  1906  the  Thirty-first  General  Assembly  amended  this 
provision  so  that  a  widow  of  an  honorably  discharged  soldier,  sailor, 
or  marine  who  had  become  a  widow  before  1885,  but  who  subsequent 
to  that  date  had  married  another  could  be  admitted. —  Laws  of  Iowa, 
1906,  Ch.  119. 

430  Laws  of  Iowa,  1900,  Ch.  92. 

431  Fourth  Biennial  Report  of  the  Board  of  Control  of  State  Insti- 
tutions, 1905,  pp.  52,  53. 

432  Laws  of  Iowa,  1907,  Ch.  145.     By  an  act  approved  on  April  6, 
1892,  the  county  from  which  a  soldier  had  been  sent  was  made  liable 
for  his  support  in  the  Hospital  for  the  Insane  should  he  become  in- 
sane. —  Laws  of  Iowa,  1892,  Ch.  24. 

433  Laws  of  Iowa,  1909,  Ch.  164. 

434  Laws  of  Iowa,  1909,  Ch.  166. 

435  Laws  of  Iowa,  1913,  Ch.  16. 

436  Laws  of  Iowa,  1913,  Ch.  220. 

CHAPTEE  XIV 

437  See  the  Proceedings  of  the  Thirteenth  Iowa  State  Conference  of 
Charities  and  Correction,  1911,  p.  43.     In  forty-five  out  of  eighty- 
seven  county  homes  reported  to  the  writer  in  1911,  the  doctor  visited 


NOTES  AND  REFERENCES  379 

only  when  called;  in  twenty-four  he  visited  once  a  week  unless  called 
oftener;  in  four  of  them,  semi-weekly ;  in  one,  every  two  weeks;  in 
three,  monthly ;  in  one,  quarterly ;  and  in  one,  ' '  frequently ' '. 

438  Laws  of  Iowa,  1909,  Ch.  26.     This  act  was  approved  on  April  6. 
«9  Laws  of  Iowa,  1906,  Ch.  120. 

440  Laws  of  Iowa,  1913,  Ch.  40. 

441  Laws  of  Iowa,  1913,  Ch.  238. 

CHAPTEE  XV 

442  Journal  of  the  House  of  'Representatives,  1838,  pp.  198,  201,  207, 
216. 

443  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  1838-1839,  pp.  455,  456. 

444  Code  of  1851,  Ch.  208,  p.  462. 

"5  Revision  of  1860,  Ch.  185;  and  Code  of  1873,  Sees.  4130-4144. 

446  Laws  of  Iowa,  1876,  Ch.  69;  McClain's  Code  of  1888,  Sees.  5527, 
5528. 

447  Laws  of  Iowa,  1890,  Ch.  43,  Sec.  2. 

CHAPTER  XVI 

448  Iowa  Legislative  Documents,  1874,  Vol.  II,  No.  31. 

449 Lows  of  Iowa,  1874  (Private),  pp.  11,  12.  This  bill  was  pre- 
ceded in  the  Senate  by  Senate  File  No.  123,  proposing  to  loan  these 
settlers  money.  —  See  Journal  of  the  Senate,  1874,  pp.  124,  141,  162, 
167. 

450  Shambaugh  's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  VI,  p.  419. 

CHAPTEE  XVII 

451  Laws  of  Iowa,  1872,  Ch.  183. 

452  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  72-74.     The  Governor  in  this  message  criticised 
some   official  who   objected   to   the  appointment   of  this  committee. 
Doubtless  he  refers  to  the  report  of  Dr.  Mark  Eanney,  the  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Mt.  Pleasant  Hospital,  who  in  his  report  had  criticised 


380      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

the  law.     Governor  Carpenter  in  his  message  accused  him  of  using 
coarse  epithets  about  the  legislature  and  the  committee. 

In  Dr.  Banney's  report,  however,  there  are  to  be  found  no  coarse 
epithets  applied  to  either  of  these  authorities,  but  a  straightforward 
argument  against  the  provisions  of  the  act  which  took  out  of  the 
hands  of  the  superintendent  the  right  to  limit  letter -writing  of  the 
inmates  to  their  friends  and  lessened  the  control  of  the  superin- 
tendent over  the  patients  in  the  hospital.  —  See  Iowa  Legislative  Doc- 
uments, 1874,  Vol.  II,  No.  17-a,  especially  pp.  27-31. 

453  Journal  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  1874,  Index,  H.  F., 
No.  219. 

454  Iowa  Legislative  Documents,  1876,  Vol.  II,  No.  21,  p.  8. 

455  Shambaugh  's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  IV,  p.  157. 

456  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  V,  pp.  18,  19. 

457  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  V,  pp.  63-66,  68,  69. 

458  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  V,  p.  159. 

459  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  303,  304. 

460  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  VI,  p.  353. 

461  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  38-40. 

462  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  21-23. 

463  Shambaugh 's  Messages  and  Proclamations  of  the  Governors  of 
Iowa,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  145,  146,  153,  154.     One  wonders  whether  these 
reactionary  views  of  Eepublican  Governors  just  following  a  Demo- 
cratic regime,  were  rooted  in  scientific  or  political  considerations. 

464  Journal  of  the  Senate,  1898,  pp.  109-179.     The  committee  said: 
"If  we  thought  the  legislature  competent  to  remedy  the  defects, 

abuses,  and  evils  presented  in  our  report,  by  enactments,  applicable 


NOTES  AND  REFERENCES  381 

to  each  institution,  there  would  be  much  merit  in  suggesting  specific 
changes.  Entertaining  the  opinion,  however,  that  the  major  part  of 
our  criticisms  refers  to  abuses  inhering  in  the  trustee  system,  a  thor- 
ough measure  of  reform  is  the  only  remedy.  We  attempted  with  some 
care  to  prepare  a  list  of  proposed  statutory  amendments,  but  on  re- 
flection it  was  ascertained  that  the  greater  number  of  such  amend- 
ments can  properly  form  a  part  of  a  measure  creating  a  central  or 
supervisory  board.  Many  other  of  such  amendments  will  not  be  re- 
quired if  such  board  is  established.  The  disease  is  organic  and  too 
deep  seated  for  the  use  of  palliatives. 

"Much  of  the  discussion  regarding  the  merits  of  state  or  county 
care  of  the  insane  will  be  unnecessary  under  a  more  economical  man- 
agement which  will  reduce  the  per  capita  allowance  for  support  pur- 
poses. The  failure  of  the  state  to  show  a  reduction  in  the  cost  of 
support  of  the  inmates,  though  it  is  evident  that  such  reduction  should 
be  had  in  the  last  seven  years,  may  be  taken  as  one  reason  why  many 
counties  are  building  asylums  to  house  their  insane.  Thoroughly 
convince  the  people  and  members  of  boards  of  supervisors  that  the  per 
capita  allowance  for  insane  is  not  greater  than  is  required  and  this 
question  of  county  care  will  solve  itself,  for  all  must  grant  that  the 
state  hospital  is  the  proper  place  to  either  cure  or  care  for  the  in- 
sane."—  Journal  of  the  Senate,  1898,  pp.  171,  173. 

Relative  to  the  statements  of  the  Governors  that  special  boards  of 
trustees  produced  experts  on  the  work  of  the  institutions,  the  com- 
mittee said: 

"As  a  general  proposition,  it  must  be  said  that  a  great  number  of 
these  trustees  do  not  display  the  familiarity  with  the  institution,  or 
knowledge  of  the  manner  in  which  its  business  is  conducted,  to  enable 
them  to  intelligently  participate  in  a  careful  or  economical  manage- 
ment thereof.  As  our  report  indicates,  many  of  the  trustees  betrayed 
in  their  examination  before  the  committee  a  want  of  that  information 
respecting  the  institution  which  might  be  supposed  would  be  known  to 
any  citizen.  There  are  some  exceptions  to  this  rule.  The  committee 
met  two-thirds  of  all  the  trustees.  Less  than  one-third  of  this  num- 
ber gave  the  required  time  and  attention,  or  evinced  the  possession 
of  information  sufficient  to  give  valuable  counsel,  to  say  nothing  of 
actively  participating  in,  or  directing  a  business  involving  annually 
the  expenditure  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars.  As  a  body,  the 


382      POOR  RELIEF  LEGISLATION  IN  IOWA 

trustees  and  regents  are  men  of  intelligence  and  integrity,  who  have 
been  successful  in  their  several  lines  of  business.  A  man  may  be  a 
success  in  his  own  business,  yet  this  very  fact  and  the  multiplicity 
of  his  private  affairs  prevents  him  as  trustee  from  giving  the  neces- 
sary time  to  the  performance  of  the  state's  business.  Through  neg- 
ligence and  an  indisposition  to  study,  or  to  familiarize  themselves 
with  the  government  of  the  institution,  they  have  ceased,  in  many 
cases,  to  be  factors  in  the  management.  The  superintendents  or  sub- 
ordinates do  the  business  that  the  law  expects  and  requires  to  be  done 
by  the  trustees.  Iowa  is  undoubtedly  receiving  the  judgment  and 
experience  of  superintendents  and  other  employes  in  the  management 
of  its  affairs  rather  than  the  judgment  and  experience  of  the  trustees, 
who  are  charged  with  the  execution  of  the  trust.  The  selection  of  a 
citizen  living  on  the  eastern  border  of  the  state  as  a  trustee  of  an 
institution  located  on  the  western  border  is  often  had.  Such  selec- 
tion does  not  tend  to  promote  the  public  service. ' '  —  See  Journal  of 
the  Senate,  1898,  p.  175. 

465  Journal  of  the  Senate,  1898,  pp.  899,  900. 

466  Journal  of  the  Senate,  1898,  pp.  923,  978,  979. 

467  Laws  of  1898,  pp.  62-76.     See  also  reprint  of  the  act  in  First 
Biennial  Report  of  the  Board  of  Control  of  State  Institutions,  1899, 
pp.  1-17. 

468  See  above,  pp.  251-254. 

469  First  Biennial  Report  of  the  Board  of  Control  of  State  Institu- 
tions, 1899,  pp.  123,  126. 

470  Laws  of  Iowa,  1900,  Ch.  144. 

471  Laws  of  Iowa,  1902,  Ch.  133. 

472  Laws  of  Iowa,  1902,  Ch.  93,  Sec.  1.     The  next  General  Assembly 
further  strengthened  its  control  over  this  institution.  —  Laws  of  Iowa, 
1904,  Ch.  80. 

478  Laws  of  Iowa,  1904,  Ch.  11,  Sec.  14. 

474  Laws  of  Iowa,  1906,  Ch.  181,  Sec.  1 

476  Laws  of  Iowa,  1906,  Ch.  92,  Sec.  1. 

476  Laws  of  Iowa,  1909,  Ch.  180,  act  approved  on  April  8,  1909. 


NOTES  AND  REFERENCES  383 

477  Biennial  Message  of  B.  F.  Carroll,  1911,  pp.  29-31,  in  the  Iowa 
Legislative  Documents,  1911,  Vol.  I. 

478  Laws  of  Iowa,  1911,  Ch.  141.     This  act  was  approved  on  April 
6th. 

479  Laws  of  Iowa,  1913,  Ch.  235. 
«o  Laws  of  Iowa,  1913,  Ch.  236. 

481  Laws  of  Iowa,  1913,  Chs.  220,  232. 

482  Second  Biennial  Report  of  the  Board  of  Control  of  State  Institu- 
tions, 1901,  p.  56. 

CHAPTEE  XVIII 

483  Eighth  Biennial  Eeport  of  the  Board  of  Control  of  State  In- 
stitutions, 1912,  p.  556. 

484  Eighth  Biennial  Eeport  of  the  Board  of  Control  of  State  In- 
stitutions, 1912,  pp.  556-558. 

485  Eighth  Biennial  Eeport  of  the  Board  of  Control  of  State  In- 
stitutions, 1912,  pp.  558,  559. 

486  Eighth  Biennial  Eeport  of  the  Board  of  Control  of  State  In- 
stitutions, 1912,  p.  554. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Accounts,  uniform  system  of,  recom- 
mended, 303 

Admission  to  poorhouse,  57,  69,  145, 
146,  147,  169,  170 

Adoption  of  children,  provisions  rel- 
ative to,  204,  205,  213,  222,  223, 
225,  226,  322 

Agents,  State,  care  of  poor  by,  45,  49, 
50;  duties  of,  204,  205;  provision 
for,  223 ;  appointment  of,  309 

Alienists,  330 

Alms,   collectors  of,  290 

Andrew,   orphan  asylum  at,   218,   219 

Apprentices,  11,  58,  220,  221;  legal 
settlement  of,  16,  54,  67,  119,  120 
(see  also  Children) 

Apprenticeship,  law  relative  to,  172 

Appropriations,  securing  of,  for  State 
institutions,  302 ;  lack  of  continuity 
of  purpose  in,  302 ;  limitation  on 
making  of,  303 

Assessors,  enumeration  of  soldiers  and 
marines  by,  95 ;  enumeration  of 
soldiers'  orphans  by,  198 

Associated  charities,    154,    315 

Associations  for  caring  for  children, 
State  supervision  of,  219,  220,  309 

Babbitt,  L.  W.,   354 

Bastards,  law  relative  to  legal  settle- 
ment of,  29 ;  provisions  for  care  of, 
195-197  (see  also  Illegitimate  Chil- 
dren) 

Beggars,   290 

Belgium,  farm  colonies  for  vagrants 
in,  292 

Bequests,  receiving  of,  4,  5,  6,  56,  68 

Biggs,    Mr.,    53 

Bills,  auditing  of,  303 

Blackfriars   (England),    362 

Blacks,   legal  settlement  denied  to,   8, 


16,  53,  54,  61,  67;  right  of  gaining 
settlement  given  to,  118 

Blind,  number  of,  in  Iowa,  241,  270; 
provisions  for  care  of,  269-271;  re- 
porting of  names  of,  271 ;  number 
of,  in  poorhouses,  320;  present 
methods  of  caring  for,  323 

Blind,  College  for,  213,  214,  323, 
376;  establishment  of,  269;  legisla- 
tion relative  to,  269-271 ;  placing 
of,  under  Board  of  Control,  306; 
placing  of,  under  Board  of  Educa- 
tion, 310 

Blind,  Industrial  Home  for  Adult, 
establishment  of,  270;  abandonment 
of,  271 ;  placing  of,  under  Board  of 
Control,  306 

Board  of  Charities,  bill  providing  for, 
297 ;  establishment  of,  recommend- 
ed, 297,  298 ;  reference  to,  304, 
312;  provision  for,  in  Indiana,  332 

Board  of  Control,  supervision  over 
county  institutions  given  to,  112 ; 
creation  of,  181,  203,  212;  super- 
vision of  care  of  insane  by,  181,  255, 
259-261,  308,  312,  313,  316;  ref- 
erence to,  216,  225,  230,  231,  247, 
258,  271,  272,  283,  322,  323,  324, 
325,  327,  328,  331,  365,  375;  ad- 
vantages of  supervision  of  outdoor 
relief  by,  191,  192 ;  recommenda- 
tions of,  203,  204,  212,  213,  238, 
254,  276;  State  agents  appointed 
by,  204;  placing  out  of  children 
supervised  by,  205;  report  of,  214, 
215,  248,  251;  supervision  of  pri- 
vate orphan  asylums  by,  219,  220; 
evil  conditions  in  poorhouses  point- 
ed out  by,  251-254;  responsibility 
of,  for  care  of  non-resident  insane, 
264;  College  for  Blind  removed 


387 


388 


INDEX 


from  control  of,  271 ;  Soldiers' 
Home  placed  under  control  of,  281 ; 
establishment  of,  recommended, 
298,  299 ;  report  in  favor  of  estab- 
lishment of,  301-305;  act  creating, 
306,  307 ;  additional  powers  given 
to,  309-311;  criticism  of,  310;  sug- 
gestions concerning  supervision  by, 
331-334 

Board  of  Education,  State,  College  for 
Blind  placed  under  control  of,  271, 
310 

Boies,  Horace,  recommendations  of, 
180,  222,  223,  299;  proclamation 
of,  295 

Bounties,  giving  of,  to  volunteers,  94 

Bridges,  building  of,  72 

Bristol    (England),   362 

British,  surrender  of  Michigan  Terri- 
tory by,  24 

Brothers,  liability  of,  for  support  of 
relatives,  24,  95;  omission  of,  from 
list  of  relatives  liable,  45 

Brown  County    (Wisconsin),   346 

Browning,   Milton  D.,   349,   350 

Calamity,  special  relief  for  victims  of, 
293-295 

California,  80 

Carpenter,  C.  C.,  recommendations  of, 
180,  201,  202,  206,  207,  235,  256, 
272;  reference  to,  296,  297,  380 

Carroll,  B.  F.,  276;  recommendation 
of,  310 

Cedar  Falls,  branch  of  soldiers'  or- 
phans' home  at,  198 ;  abandonment 
of  soldiers'  orphans'  home  at,  202  ; 
reference  to,  203 ;  number  of  or- 
phans in  home  at,  368 

Charitable  institutions,  investigation 
of,  249,  250;  visitation  of,  297; 
supervision  over,  recommended, 
298;  report  of  Healy  committee 
concerning,  300-305 ;  placing  of, 
under  Board  of  Control,  306,  307 

Charitable  purposes,  regulation  of 
solicitation  of  funds  for,  311,  312 

Charity  workers,  154,  155 

Chase's  Statutes  of  Ohio,   19,   69 


Cherokee,  department  for  inebriates 
at,  273 

Chickasaw  County,   111 

Children,  apprenticing  of,  4;  deser- 
tion of,  5 ;  binding  out  of,  6,  11, 
18,  22,  23,  26,  32,  36,  41,  45,  58, 
69,  102,  109,  137,  172,  220,  221; 
liability  of,  for  support  of  parents, 
17,  32,  50,  81,  321;  absence  of 
provision  for,  67 ;  reference  to,  95, 
329 ;  tuition  for  education  of  poor, 
105;  neglect  of,  112;  law  relative 
to  settlement  of,  119,  120;  keeping 
of,  in  poorhouses,  172-174,  209- 
217;  provisions  for  care  of  normal, 
195-232 ;  provisions  for  care  of  il- 
legitimate, 195-197 ;  provisions  for 
care  of  orphan,  197-220 ;  adoption 
of,  204,  205,  213,  222,  223,  225, 
226;  placing  out  of,  on  contract, 
204 ;  agents  for  finding  homes  for, 
204,  205,  223,  309 ;  summary  of 
State  care  of  normal,  216,  217; 
care  of,  in  private  institutions,  217- 
220;  State  control  of  associations 
for  caring  for,  219,  220;  care  of 
dependent,  outside  of  institutions, 
220-230;  relation  of  juvenile  court 
to  care  of,  224-226;  definition  of 
dependent  or  neglected,  224;  insti- 
tutions made  parties  to  adoption  of, 
225 ;  relation  of  contributory  de- 
pendency law  to  care  of,  226-228 ; 
change  in  law  relative  to  support 
of,  by  parents,  228,  229 ;  relation 
of  mother's  pension  law  to  care  of, 
229,  230;  summary  of  methods  of 
caring  for  dependent,  230-232, 
322 ;  provision  for  care  of  feeble- 
minded, 233-239 ;  liability  of,  for 
support  of  insane  parents,  240 ;  ef- 
fect of  State  control  of  care  of,  265, 
266;  homes  for,  placed  under 
Board  of  Control,  309;  care  of,  in 
homes,  320;  supervision  over  care 
of,  324;  suggested  changes  in  sys- 
tem of  caring  for,  327,  328  (see 
also  Orphans) 

Chronic    insane,    proposals    for    State 


INDEX 


389 


hospital     for,     255-258;     movement 
for  county  asylums  for,  258 

Circuit  court,  power  given  to,  97; 
reference  to,  101,  122,  135;  func- 
tions of,  in  poor  relief,  128,  129 

Cities,  incorporation  of,  72 ;  appoint- 
ment of  overseers  in,  101,  105,  132, 
152 ;  reference  to,  108 ;  legislation 
relative  to  infirmaries  in,  161-164 

City  council,  powers  of,  97,  98,  132 ; 
power  taken  from,  101 ;  reference 
to,  152 ;  powers  of,  relative  to  in- 
firmary, 161-164 

City  infirmary,  legislation  relative  to, 
161-164 

Civil  War,  poor  relief  legislation  dur- 
ing period  of,  92-99 ;  legislation  oc- 
casioned by,  118,  160,  173,  174, 
176,  187,  188,  244,  279,  281,  283; 
care  of  orphans  of  soldiers  of,  197- 
205 ;  care  of  dependents  caused  by, 
293 

Clarinda,  opening  of  insane  hospital 
at,  248 

Clark,  Dan  E.,  acknowledgment  to,  xi 

Cleaves,  Margaret  A.,  report  of,  180, 
298 

Clerk  of  court,  functions  of,  in  poor 
relief,  102,  135 

Cleveland  (Ohio),  33;  Cooley  Farms 
at,  291,  330 

Cochran,  William  J.,   349,   350 

Code  commissioners,  list  of,  in  1851, 
75 ;  sources  of  legislation  adopted 
by,  78-80;  work  of,  on  Code  of 
1873,  99-101;  work  of,  on  Code  of 
1897,  106-109 

Code  of  1851,  character  of,  75;  ori- 
gin of  sections  on  poor  relief  in, 
75,  76,  78-80;  provisions  of,  rela- 
tive to  poor  relief,  76-88;  compari- 
son of  sections  of,  with  New  York 
law,  80-88;  reference  to,  97,  99, 
100,  103,  123,  126,  128,  129,  130, 
134,  135,  136,  138,  139,  141,  145, 
146,  147,  151,  157,  167,  171,  172, 
175,  186,  240;  law  of  settlement 
in,  118,  119,  120;  provisions  of, 
relative  to  removal  of  non-resident 
paupers,  121,  122;  provisions  of, 


relative  to  poorhouses,  158-160; 
provisions  of,  relative  to  directors 
of  poorhouse,  164-166;  provisions 
of,  relative  to  outdoor  relief,  187 ; 
provisions  of,  relative  to  illegiti- 
mate children,  196;  provisions  of, 
relative  to  binding  out  children, 
221;  provisions  of,  relative  to  deaf 
and  dumb,  266;  provisions  of, 
relative  to  care  of  blind,  269 ;  pro- 
visions of,  relative  to  vagrants,  290 ; 
table  showing  origin  of  sections  of, 
337-339 

Code  of  1873,  75,  123,  129,  130,  134, 
138,  139,  140,  142,  145,  146,  147, 
148,  149,  151,  152,  162,  163,  167, 
168,  171,  172,  175,  176,  250;  pro- 
visions of,  relative  to  poor  relief, 
99-104;  excellent  character  of  pro- 
visions of,  103,  104;  law  of  settle- 
ment in,  118,  119;  provisions  of, 
relative  to  removal  of  non-resident 
paupers,  122,  123 ;  provisions  of, 
relative  to  outdoor  relief,  187 ;  pro- 
visions of,  relative  to  illegitimate 
children,  196;  provisions  of,  rela- 
tive to  binding  out  children,  221; 
provisions  of,  relative  to  vagrants, 
290 

Code  of  1897,  75,  123,  129,  130,  132, 
133,  134,  140,  145,  147,  148,  149, 
152,  171,  172,  175,  250,  258;  pro- 
visions of,  relative  to  poor  relief, 
106-110;  provisions  of,  relative  to 
outdoor  relief,  187,  188;  provisions 
of,  relative  to  binding  out  children, 
221 ;  provisions  of,  relative  to  care 
of  blind,  271 

Code  Supplement  of  1907,  309 

Cole,  C.  C.,  198 

Colony  for  Epileptics,  recommenda- 
tions concerning,  275,  276;  estab- 
lishment of,  276,  277;  placing  of, 
under  Board  of  Control,  311 ;  ref- 
erence to,  324 

Conference  of  Charities  and  Correc- 
tion, National,  180,  298 

Constables,  duties  of,  28,  30,  46,  52, 
54,  121,  290 

Constitution  of  1846,  provision  of,  73 


390 


INDEX 


Consumptives,  special  hospital  for,  at 
Glenwood,  239 

Contracts,  care  of  poor  by,  4,  22,  45, 
49,  55,  183,  184,  185-187;  pro- 
visions relative  to,  22 ;  letting  of, 
23,  27 ;  limitation  on  time  of,  67 

Contractors,  rules  for  government  of, 
25;  supervision  over,  78,  103,  133, 
139,  140,  145;  bonding  of,  102; 
functions  of,  140,  141 ;  changes  in 
law  relative  to,  185-187 

Contributory  dependency,  law  on  sub- 
ject of,  226-228,  322 ;  administra- 
tion of  law  relative  to,  231,  232 

Convicts,  resolution  relative  to,  89 

Cooley  Farms,  291,  330 

Correction,  house  of,   33,   34 

Correctional  institutions,  investiga- 
tion of,  249,  250 

Cotton,  A.  B.,   354 

Council  Bluffs,  school  for  deaf  and 
dumb  located  at,  267;  reference  to, 
323 

Counties,  3 ;  poorhouses  in,  7 ;  fail- 
ure of,  to  build  poorhouses,  8 ;  pro- 
visions of  Ohio  law  relative  to  poor- 
houses in,  9,  10;  making  of,  units 
of  relief,  28 ;  position  of,  as  units 
of  relief,  42 ;  penalty  for  bringing 
paupers  into,  42,  46;  organization 
of,  72 ;  care  of  families  of  soldiers 
by,  93-99;  payment  of  cost  of  sup- 
porting poor  in,  104;  retention  of, 
as  units  of  relief,  117;  poor  relief 
officials  in,  126-143 ;  care  of  sol- 
diers' orphans  by,  198,  199 ;  sup- 
port of  soldiers'  orphans  charged 
to,  202,  203 ;  result  of  charging  sup- 
port of  orphans  to,  208-214;  fail- 
ure of,  to  send  orphans  to  Home, 
211,  212;  reduction  of  cost  to,  of 
support  of  orphans,  214,  215,  216; 
care  of  indigent  idiots  by,  233,  234; 
responsibility  of,  for  support  of 
feeble-minded  children,  236,  237; 
cost  of  support  of  insane  paid  by, 
243,  244;  sending  of  insane  pa- 
tients back  to,  245,  247,  248,  310, 
311;  building  of  insane  asylums  by, 
248 ;  care  of  insane  by,  248,  249 ; 


cost  of  support  of  insane  by,  249 ; 
investigation  of  care  of  insane  by, 
249,  250;  recommendations  rela- 
tive to  care  of  insane  by,  254 ; 
methods  of  caring  for  insane  in, 
255 ;  number  of  insane  persons  in, 
256,  257,  258,  374,  375;  super- 
vision over  care  of  insane  by,  259- 
261;  results  of  care  of  insane  by, 
261-266;  slowness  of,  to  send  in- 
ebriates to  hospital,  274;  levy  of 
taxes  by,  for  support  of  soldiers' 
families,  278,  279;  expenses  of 
medical  attendance  paid  by,  285 ; 
care  of  tuberculosis  patients  by,  285, 
288 ;  variations  in  amounts  expend- 
ed in,  325,  326;  comparison  of  care 
of  insane  by  State  and  by,  333,  334 

County  auditor,  12,  122,  131,  132; 
functions  of,  in  poor  relief,  134, 
135 

County  board  of  charities,  332,  333 

County  clerk,  children  bound  out  by, 
221;  reference  to,  243 

County  commissioners,  duties  trans- 
ferred to,  5;  reference  to,  6,  11, 
14,  21,  23,  27,  41,  42,  44,  45,  50, 
52,  55,  65,  67,  73,  165,  166,  175, 
196;  powers  of,  relative  to  poor- 
houses, 9,  10;  levy  of  taxes  by,  17, 
32 ;  removal  of  non-resident  paupers 
by,  30;  children  bound  out  by,  32; 
duties  of,  relative  to  non-resident 
paupers,  45,  46;  powers  and  duties 
of,  in  poor  relief,  47-50,  56,  57,  58, 
59,  64,  68,  69 ;  responsibility  of, 
for  care  of  poor,  51 ;  management 
of  poorhouse  by,  158;  admission  to 
poorhouse  by,  169 ;  organization  of 
boards  of,  346 

County  court,  103 ;  functions  of,  in 
poor  relief,  126-128;  outdoor  relief 
by,  187;  authority  of,  in  care  of  in- 
sane, 240,  241 ;  names  of  defectives 
reported  by,  271  (see  also  County 
judge) 

County  doctors,  character  of,  285; 
reference  to,  288 ;  visits  of,  at  coun- 
ty homes,  378,  379 

County    homes,    name    of    poorhouses 


INDEX 


391 


changed  to,  111 ;  number  of,  in 
Iowa,  319;  need  of  prohibiting1 
keeping  of  children  in,  328 ;  sug- 
gested changes  in  relation  to,  329- 
331;  visits  of  doctor  at,  378,  379 

County  hospitals,  special  room  for  in- 
sane in,  254 ;  provision  for  estab- 
lishment of,  285 ;  number  of,  estab- 
lished, 286 

County  insane  fund,  law  relative  to, 
258,  259 

County  judge,  functions  of,  in  poor 
relief,  77-79,  82-88,  126-128;  feel- 
ing against,  89 ;  superseding  of,  by 
supervisors,  91,  92 ;  warning  to  de- 
part issued  by,  121 ;  duties  of,  in 
removing  non-resident  paupers, 
122;  reference  to,  131,  146,  165, 
166,  196 ;  appointment  of  directors 
by,  136;  spy  appointed  by,  140; 
part  of,  in  management  of  poor- 
house,  159;  admission  to  poorhouse 
by,  170;  children  bound  out  by, 
221;  authority  of,  in  care  of  in- 
sane, 242  (see  also  County  court) 

County  judge  system,  origin  of,  79, 
80;  abolition  of,  92,  128 

County  superintendent,  deaf  and 
dumb  persons  reported  by,  267, 
268 ;  names  of  blind  persons  re- 
ported by,  271 

County  supervisors    (see   Supervisors) 

County  treasurer,   58 

Court  of  common  pleas,   6 

Court  of  quarter  sessions,  overseers 
appointed  by,  3,  4;  duties  trans- 
ferred from,  5 ;  reference  to,  22, 
27;  abolition  of,  23;  binding  out 
of  children  by,  32 ;  taxes  levied  by, 
32 

Court  of  probate,  240 

Courts,  functions  of,  in  poor  relief,  4, 
126-131 ;  functions  of,  under  Code 
of  1851,  77-79,  82-88;  inefficiency 
of  supervision  of  poor  relief  by, 
189,  190;  practices  permitted  by, 
215  (see  circuit  courts,  county 
courts,  district  courts) 

Crawford  County  (Wisconsin),  319, 
346 


Crime,    112 

Cummins,   Albert   B.,   recommendation 

of,  216 
Custodial     department,     establishment 

of,  at  Knoxville,  273,  274 

Dakota,   263 

Davenport,  173,  180,  222,  298,  322; 
Mercy  Hospital  near,  179 ;  location 
of  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home  at, 
198 ;  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Homes  con- 
solidated at,  202;  number  of  or- 
phans in  home  at,  203,  368;  his- 
tory of  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home  at, 
203-217 

Deaf,  number  of,  in  Iowa,  241 ;  pro- 
visions for  care  of,  266-269 ;  report- 
ing of  names  of,  271;  number  of, 
in  poorhouses,  320;  present  meth- 
ods of  caring  for,  323 ;  reference 
to,  329 

Deaf,  School  for,  213,  310;  establish- 
ment of,  266;  history  of,  267-269; 
placing  of,  under  Board  of  Control, 
306;  admission  to,  311,  323 

Defectives,  195,  329 ;  provisions  for 
care  of,  233-277 ;  number  of,  in 
Iowa,  241 ;  effect  of  State  control  of 
care  of,  265,  266;  number  of,  in 
poorhouses,  320 

Dependents,  abandonment  of,  32 ;  be- 
ginning of  legislation  for  special 
classes  of,  97;  care  of  special 
classes  of,  195-292;  effect  of  State 
control  of  care  of,  265,  266 

Desertion,  law  relative  to,  5,  23,  33, 
36,  85-88,  118,  119;  procedure  in 
compelling  relief  in  cases  of,  129, 
130;  seizure  of  estates  in  cases  of, 
137,  148;  law  relative  to,  recom- 
mended, 216 

Des  Moines  County,  act  relative  to 
poorhouse  in,  73,  74,  349-351;  pop- 
ulation of,  in  1836,  346 

Detroit  (Michigan),   34,  35,  37,  38 

Dipsomaniacs,  diagnosis  and  treat- 
ment of,  272 

Directors  of  poor,  21,  24,  25,  28,  32, 
37 

Directors  of  poorhouse,  8,  13,  15,  17, 


392 


INDEX 


18,  25,  27,  36,  55,  68,  73,  74,  78, 
82,  85,  86,  92,  122,  126,  145,  147, 
159,  167,  171;  powers  and  duties 
of,  9,  10,  57,  58,  59,  64,  65,  136- 
138,  158,  164-166;  change  in  num- 
ber of,  11;  oath  of  office  for,  11; 
property  held  by,  11;  care  of  poor 
centralized  in,  12 ;  children  bound 
out  by,  18,  172,  221 ;  compensation 
of,  59,  69 ;  recommendation  of 
abolition  of,  101 ;  warning  to  de- 
part issued  by,  121 ;  appointment 
of,  128;  omission  of  provision  for, 
138;  admission  to  poorhouse  by, 
169,  170;  care  of  insane  by,  245 

Discharge  from  poorhouse,  17,  58,  59, 
69,  170-172 

Disorderly  persons,  290 

District  court,  55,  122,  123,  147,  148, 
220,  221,  228 ;  functions  of,  in  poor 
relief,  129 ;  jurisdiction  of,  224, 
226-228;  mothers'  pension  law  ad- 
ministered by,  229 ;  jurisdiction  of, 
in  cases  of  vagrancy,  289,  290 

District  infirmary,  advantages  of, 
329-331 

District  judges,  27,  324,  325 ;  levy  of 
taxes  by,  32 ;  ineffectiveness  of 
supervision  of  poor  relief  by,  189, 
190 

Divorces,   71 

Doctors,  prices  charged  to  county  by, 
102 

Drake,  Francis  M.,  181;  statement  by, 
203,  211,  212;  recommendations 
of,  259,  300 

Drunkards,  appointment  of  guardians 
for,  272;  reference  to,  290  (see 
also  Inebriates) 

Dubuque  County,  population  of,  in 
1836,  346 

Dudley,  Charles,  354 

Dumb,  number  of,  in  Iowa,  241 ;  pro- 
visions for  care  of,  266-269;  re- 
porting of  names  of,  271 ;  number 
of,  in  poorhouses,  320;  present 
methods  of  caring  for,  323 ;  refer- 
ence to,  329 

Economic  motives,  influence  of,  261- 
266,  277 


Educational  institutions,  question  of 
placing  of,  under  Board  of  Control, 
305 ;  placing  of,  under  Board  of 
Control,  306;  placing  of,  under 
Board  of  Education,  310 

Elberfeld-Hamburg  system,   154,  162 

Elizabeth,  laws  of,  5,  168,  171 

Emancipation   Proclamation,   202 

Emmet  County,   319 

England,  117,  150,  157,  171;  work- 
houses in,  362 

Epileptics,  provisions  for  care  of,  275- 
277 ;  recommendation  concerning 
colony  for,  275,  276;  number  of,  in 
Iowa,  275,  276;  establishment  of 
colony  for,  276,  277 ;  provision  for 
unsexing  of,  276;  number  of,  in 
poorhouses,  320;  methods  of  caring 
for,  323,  324;  reference  to,  329 

Escheated  property,  holding  of,  for 
care  of  poor,  11 

Europe,  treatment  of  vagrants  in,  291, 
292 

Executive   Council,   307 

Fairview  Township  (Jones  County), 
74,  217 

Fakers,  290 

Family  desertion  law,  recommendation 
of,  216 

Farming  out,  system  of,  8,  13,  15,  18, 
25,  36,  43,  66,  67,  77,  131 

Father,  liability  of,  for  support  of 
children,  17,  32,  50,  81,  321;  aban- 
donment of  dependents  by,  32  ;  seiz- 
ure of  estate  of,  137,  148 ;  support 
of  illegitimate  children  by,  196, 
197;  liability  of,  for  support  of  in- 
sane, 240 

Feeble-minded,  provisions  for  care  of, 
233-239;  provision  for  performing1 
vasectomy  on,  238;  summary  of 
legislation  relative  to,  239 ;  effect 
of  State  control  of  care  of,  265, 
266;  number  of,  in  poorhouses, 
320;  methods  of  caring  for,  322, 
323 ;  reference  to,  329 

Feeble-minded  Children,  Institution 
for,  213,  299;  establishment  of, 
233,  235,  236;  admission  to,  236, 
237,  238,  239;  cost  of  transporta- 


INDEX 


393 


tion  to,  236,  237;  special  hospital 
at,  239;  care  of  epileptics  in,  275; 
placing  of,  under  Board  of  Control, 
306;  commitment  to,  323 

Ferries,  establishment  of,   72 

Field  codes,   80 

Fines,  use  of,  for  support  of  poor,  31 

Firman,   Thomas,    362 

Flax,    work   of   poor   on,    4,    9 

Fortune-tellers,    290 

Fullinwider,  Samuel,  349 

Funds,  intermingling  of,  301 ;  regu- 
lation of  solicitation  of,  311,  312 

Funeral  expenses,  278,  279 

Gallaher,  Ruth,  acknowledgment  to,  xi 

Gallaudet,    Professor,   266 

Garrett,  John  M.,  354 

Gear,  John  H.,  recommendations  of, 
180,  236,  256,  257,  297,  298; 
statements  by,  208-211,  364,  365 

Germany,  154,  162 

Girls,  special  cottage  for,  at  Glen- 
wood,  239 

Glenwood,  branch  of  soldiers'  or- 
phans' home  at,  198,  201 ;  abandon- 
ment of  soldiers'  orphans'  home  at, 
202;  reference  to,  203,  323,  367; 
use  made  of  orphan's  home  build- 
ings at,  235,  257;  history  of  In- 
stitution for  Feeble-minded  at,  235- 
239 ;  suggestion  for  use  of  build- 
ings at,  256,  272 ;  number  of  or- 
phans in  home  at,  368 

Governor  and  Judges,  levy  of  taxes  by, 
32 

Grand  Army  post,  280 

Grand  jurors,   290 

Grandchildren,  liability  of,  for  sup- 
port of  grandparents,  24,  32,  81, 
240,  321 ;  omission  of,  from  list 
of  relatives  liable,  45 

Grandfather,  liability  of,  for  support 
of  relatives,  17,  32,  81 ;  omission 
of,  from  list  of  relatives  liable,  45 

Grandmother,  liability  of,  for  support 
of  relatives,  17,  32;  omission  of, 
from  list  of  relatives  liable,  45 

Grandparents,  liability  of,  for  support 
of  grandchildren,  24,  240,  321 


Grants,   receiving  of,   4,   5 

Grasshopper  scourge,  relief  of  victims 
of,  293-295 

Green  Bay  (Wisconsin),  345 

Grimes,  James  W.,  information  fur- 
nished by,  241 ;  reference  to,  372 

Guardians,  consent  of,  to  adoption  of 
children,  204,  213 ;  law  relative  to 
contributory  dependency  of,  226- 
228 ;  support  of  feeble-minded  chil- 
dren by,  236,  237;  management  of 
estates  of  insane  persons  by,  240 ; 
consent  of,  to  removal  of  insane, 
260,  311;  appointment  of,  for 
drunkards,  272 

Guardianship,  provision  for,   225 

Hale,  Matthew,  362 

Hammond,  William  G.,  part  of  code 
written  by,  100 

Hamilton,   Horace,    354 

Health    regulations,    112 

Htealy,  Thomas  D.,   305 

Healy  Investigating  Committee,  report 
of,  concerning  State  institutions, 
300-305,  365 

Hebard,   Alfred,    349 

Hemp,   work  of  poor  on,   4,   9 

Hempstead,  Stephen,  75 ;  recommen- 
dation of,  241 

Henry   VIII,    117 

Hepner,    Mr.,     347 

Highways,  work  of  paupers  on,  105, 
108,  109,  148 

Holland,  farm  colonies  for  vagrants 
in,  292 

Homes,  relief  of  poor  in,  6,  7,  13,  14, 
77,  1$4,  174,  175,  183-192,  320, 
321 ;  relief  of  families  of  soldiers 
in,  197;  care  of  orphans  in,  199, 
200;  adoption  of  children  into,  204, 
205,  222,  223 ;  agents  for  finding 
of,  204,  205 ;  variations  in  amounts 
spent  for  poor  relief  in,  325,  326 

Homestead,    109 

House   of  refuge,   221 

Housing  problems,    112 

Howe,   Mr.    266 

Husband,  abandonment  of  depend- 
ents by,  32 ;  law  relative  to  deser- 


394 


INDEX 


tion  of,  85-88;  seizure  of  estate  of, 
137,  148 ;  responsibility  of,  for  edu- 
cation of  children,  229 

Ida    County,    319 

Idiots,    care    of,    43,    233-239 

Illegitimate  children,  law  relative  to 
settlement  of,  119;  provisions  for 
care  of,  195-197,  322 

Illinois,    263,    304 

Imbeciles,  provisions  for  care  of,  233- 
239 

Immigration,  relation  of,  to  pauper- 
ism, 91 

Independence,  234;  establishment  of 
insane  hospital  at,  245 ;  depart- 
ment for  inebriates  at,  273 

Indiana,  experience  of,  113;  refer- 
ence to,  177,  191,  326;  State  super- 
vision in,  190,  191,  331;  outdoor 
relief  in,  332 

Indiana,   Territory  of,   20 

Industrial   neglect,    112 

Industrial  Schools,  placing  of,  under 
Board  of  Control,  306,  307;  State 
agents  for,  309 

Industrial  training,  provision  for,  200 

Inebriates,  departments  for,  at  insane 
hospitals,  272,  273 ;  provisions  for 
care  of,  272-275 

Inebriates,  State  Hospital  for,  com- 
mitment to,  227 ;  establishment  of, 
271,  273;  legislation  relative  to, 
273-275;  placing  of,  under  Board 
of  Control,  309 

Infirmary  (city),  legislation  relative 
to,  161-164 

Ingalls,  Mr.,  198 

Insane,  supervision  of  care  of,  by 
Board  of  Control,  112,  181,  259- 
261,  312,  313,  316;  separate  coun- 
ty building  for  care  of,  178;  agita- 
tion for  hospitals  for,  241,  242; 
number  of,  in  Iowa,  241,  374,  375; 
responsibility  of  counties  for  sup- 
port of,  243,  244;  evils  in  care  of, 
in  poorhouses,  246,  247,  249,  250, 
251-254;  return  of,  to  counties, 
247,  248,  310,  311;  care  of,  by 
counties,  248,  249 ;  cost  of  support 


of,  to  counties,  249 ;  separation  of 
paupers  from,  251 ;  recommenda- 
tions of  Board  relative  to  care  of, 
254;  special  room  for,  in  county 
hospitals,  254;  complicated  system 
of  caring  for  indigent,  255 ;  move- 
ments for  special  care  of,  255-261; 
proposals  for  State  hospital  for 
chronic,  255-258 ;  number  of,  in 
county  institutions,  256,  257,  258, 
319,  320;  consent  to  removal  of, 
260;  economic  motives  in  determin- 
ing methods  of  caring  for,  261-266; 
support  of,  who  had  no  legal  settle- 
ment, 262,  263,  264;  effect  of  State 
control  of  care  of,  265,  266;  in- 
spection of  institutions  for,  recom- 
mended, 299,  300;  cost  of  support 
of,  by  different  methods,  302,  303; 
resolutions  providing  for  investiga- 
tion of  care  of,  305,  306;  super- 
vision over  care  of,  given  to  Board 
of  Control,  308 ;  care  of  non-resi- 
dent, 309;  present  methods  oi  car- 
ing for,  323  ;  advantages  of  district 
infirmary  in  care  of,  330 ;  sugges- 
tions relative  to  care  of,  333,  334 
(see  also  Insane  paupers) 

Insane,  Clarinda  Hospital  for,  open- 
ing of,  248 

Insane,  Independence  Hospital  for, 
234;  establishment  of,  245 

Insane,  Mt.  Pleasant  Hospital  for,  es- 
tablishment of,  242 ;  crowded  con- 
dition of,  244-246 

Insane,  hospitals  for,  care  of  idiots  in, 
233,  234;  departments  for  inebri- 
ates at,  272,  273;  care  of  epileptics 
in,  275 ;  creation  of  visiting  com- 
mittee for,  296;  placing  of,  under 
Board  of  Control,  306 

Insane  asylums  (county)  building  of, 
248 ;  investigation  of  conditions  in, 
249,  250;  evil  conditions  in,  251- 
254 ;  recommendations  relative  to, 
254;  movement  for,  for  chronic  in- 
sane, 258 ;  supervision  of  Board  of 
Control  over,  259-261,  308,  312, 
313,  316;  improvement  in,  265, 
266;  reference  to,  323,  333 


INDEX 


395 


Insane  paupers,  care  of,  21,  44;  pro- 
vision for  care  of,  in  Michigan  Ter- 
ritory, 37;  history  of  legislation 
relative  to  care  of,  240-266;  pro- 
visions for,  during  Territorial  peri- 
od, 240;  provisions  of  Code  of  1851 
relative  to,  240 ;  legislation  relative 
to,  from  1851  to  1860,  240-243; 
provisions  of  Revision  of  1860  rel- 
ative to,  243,  244 ;  legislation  rel- 
ative to,  from  1860  to  1914,  245- 
255;  movements  in  favor  of  special 
care  of,  255-261 ;  reasons  for  abuses 
in  care  of,  261-266  (see  also  In- 
sane) 

Insanity,  commissioners  of,  255,  261, 
262,  308,  310,  311,  323 

Intemperance,    poverty   caused  by,   45 

Iowa,  origins  of  poor  relief  legisla- 
tion in,  3  ;  poor  relief  legislation  in, 
1846  to  1914,  71-113;  resolution 
concerning  manual  labor  school  in, 
74 ;  legislation  relative  to  poor- 
houses  in,  157-182 ;  history  of  out- 
door relief  in,  183-192 ;  establish- 
ment of  soldiers'  orphans'  homes  in, 
197,  198;  summary  of  care  of  nor- 
mal children  in,  216,  217;  sum- 
mary of  methods  of  caring  for  de- 
pendent children  in,  230-232 ;  num- 
ber of  defectives  in,  241 ;  present 
system  of  caring  for  indigent  in- 
sane in,  255;  number  of  blind  in, 
270;  number  of  epileptics  in,  275, 
276;  special  relief  for  victims  of 
calamity  in,  293-295 ;  summary  of 
present  system  of  poor  relief  in, 
319-326;  suggested  changes  in  sys- 
tem of  poor  relief  in,  327-334; 
number  of  insane  in,  374,  375 

Iowa,  Territory  of,  3,  79,  140,  144, 
150,  196;  first  poor  law  of,  9,  44- 
52 ;  second  poorhouse  law  of,  13 ; 
models  for  laws  of,  19 ;  Wisconsin 
poor  law  adopted  in,  40 ;  poor  re- 
lief legislation  in,  44-70;  Wiscon- 
sin law  in  force  in,  44 ;  comparison 
of  laws  of  Wisconsin  and,  47-50 ; 
laws  of  1842  of,  53;  outdoor  relief 
law  of  1842  of,  53-56,  59-61 ;  com- 


parison of  laws  of  Ohio  and,  59-63 ; 
inadaptability  of  Ohio  law  to,  63, 
64,  65;  act  of  1844  of,  65;  act  of 
1845  of,  65;  summary  of  poor  re- 
lief legislation  of,  65-70;  reasons 
for  adoption  of  Ohio  laws  in,  69 

Iowa  City,  school  for  deaf  and  dumb 
at,  267 

Iowa  country,  Michigan's  jurisdiction 
over,  20;  application  of  poor  relief 
legislation  in,  39,  40;  population 
of,  346 

Iowa   County   (Wisconsin),   346 

Jackson,  Frank  D.,  recommendations 
of,  180,  181,  237,  238,  258,  262, 
263,  275;  arguments  of,  against 
board  of  control,  299,  300 

Jackson  County,  178;  orphan  asylum 
in,  218,  219 

Jails,  examination  of,  180 ;  confine- 
ment of  insane  in,  241,  242,  244, 
245,  246,  255,  256;  investigation 
of  conditions  in,  249 ;  commitment 
of  vagrants  to,  289 ;  recommenda- 
tion concerning  inspection  of,  297, 
299 ;  supervision  over,  recommend- 
ed, 298;  reference  to,  299 

Johnson,   Benjamin  W.,   354 

Jones  County,  74 ;  memorial  for  man- 
ual labor  school  in,  217,  218 

Judges,  214,  232  (see  also  county 
judge  and  district  judges) 

Justices  of  the  peace,  functions  of,  in 
poor  relief,  4,  8,  14,  17,  18,  21,  22, 
27,  28,  30,  36,  46,  290 

Juvenile  court  110;  care  of  dependent 
children  by,  224-226 

Juvenile  court  law,  113;  change  in, 
228;  administration  of,  231,  232; 
power  of  Board  of  Control  under, 
309 

Juvenile    detention   home,    227 

Kansas,   304 

Kasson,    John    A.,    354,    355 

Kirkwood,  Samuel  J.,  recommenda- 
tions of,  92,  93,  94,  244;  public 
appeal  of,  94 

Knoxville,       227;       establishment      of 


396 


INDEX 


home  for  blind  at,  270;  home  for 
blind  at,  turned  into  Hospital  for 
Inebriates,  271 ;  establishment  of 
Hospital  for  Inebriates  at,  273 

Larrabee,  William,  249 ;  recommenda- 
tions of,  270 

Lee  County,  act  relative  to  poorhouse 
in,  73,  88,  89,  349-351;  reference 
to,  106 

Legislative  Assembly,   44,   51 

Legislature,   special  acts  of,   71,   72 

Linn   County,    74,    217 

Local  government,  change  in  scheme 
of,  27 

London    (England),    362 

Louisiana,    19 

Lucas,   Robert,   44,    69,   346 

Lunatics   (see  Insane) 

Lyon  County,  relief  of  victims  of 
grasshopper  scourge  in,  293-295 

McClain,  Emlin,  statement  by,   79,  80 

McGugin,   Professor,   letter   from,   241 

Mclntyre,    R.    A.,    206 

Manual  labor  school,  resolution  con- 
cerning, 74,  217,  218 

Marines,  enumeration  of,  95 ;  refer- 
ence to,  132,  195,  324;  provisions 
for  care  of  families  of,  176,  320; 
admission  of  orphans  of,  to  Home, 
204;  provisions  for  care  of  depend- 
ent, 278-284;  funeral  expenses  of, 
278;  funeral  expenses  of  wives  of, 
279;  parents  of,  admitted  to  Home, 
281,  282 

Married  women,  liability  of,  for  sup- 
port of  children,  45 ;  law  relative  to 
legal  settlement  of,  54,  67,  118,  119 

Marshal  of  Territory,  contracts  let  by, 
22,  27,  36 

Marshalltown,  establishment  of  sol- 
diers' home  at,  279 

Mason,   Charles,   75,   80 

Massachusetts,     276 

Matrons  of  poorhouse,  average  salary 
of,  320 

Medical  attendance,  98,  102,  133, 
285-288;  introduction  of  free,  99; 


excess  charges  for,  105;  examina- 
tion of  claims  for,  105 

Merriam,    Frank   F.,    305 

Merrill,  Joseph  H.,   356 

Merrill,  Samuel,  recommendations  of, 
199,  200 

Michigan,  Territory  of,  3,  9,  39,  43, 
50,  51,  57,  63,  64,  69,  72,  76,  77, 
78,  79,  88,  120,  159,  196,  337, 
338,  339;  law  of  1830  of,  9,  25, 
26;  poor  relief  legislation  in,  20- 
38;  origin  of  early  laws  of,  20; 
number  of  poor  laws  in,  20,  21; 
analysis  of  poor  laws  of,  21 ;  first 
poor  law  of,  21,  22 ;  law  of  1809 
of,  22,  42;  law  of  1817  of,  22; 
law  of  1827  of,  22,  23;  law  of  1818 
of,  23;  law  of  1820  of,  23,  40; 
law  of  1824  of,  23 ;  law  of  1825  of, 
23,  24,  40,  42  ;  law  of  1829  of,  24, 
25;  law  of  1833  of,  26,  27,  40,  41; 
topical  analysis  of  poor  laws  of,  27- 
37 ;  methods  of  caring  for  poor  in, 
36,  37;  character  of  poor  relief 
legislation  of,  37,  38 ;  acts  of,  re- 
pealed, 52 

Milwaukee    County    (Wisconsin),    346 

Minories  (England),  362 

Minors   (see  Children) 

Minnesota,  263 

Misdemeanants,  workhouse  for,  330 

Misdemeanants'    farm  colony,   291 

Missouri,  263 

Morgan,    Mr.,    347 

Mothers,  liability  of,  for  support  of 
children,  17,  32,  50,  81,  321;  seiz- 
ure of  estate  of,  137,  148;  sum 
paid  to,  for  support  of  illegitimate 
child,  196 ;  payment  of  money  to, 
for  support  of  children,  199 ;  lia- 
bility of,  for  support  of  insane,  240 

Mothers'  pensions,  law  relative  to,  113, 
229,  230,  320,  321,  322,  328 

Mt.  Pleasant,  235 ;  establishment  of 
insane  hospital  at,  242 ;  crowded 
condition  of  insane  hospital  at,  244- 
246;  department  for  inebriates  at, 
273 

Mulattoes,   legal   settlement   denied  to, 


INDEX 


397 


8,    16,    53,    54,    61,    67;    right    of 
gaining  settlement  given  to,  118 
Muscatine   County,    351 

Nebraska,   263,   304 

New  Jersey,   21,  276 

New  York,  relation  of  Code  of  1851 
to  statutes  of,  79,  80;  comparison 
of  laws  of  Iowa  and,  80-88 ;  refer- 
ence to,  120,  179,  202,  207,  246, 
264,  276,  304;  tramp  farm  colony 
in,  291 

Non-resident  paupers,  removal  of,  30, 
52,  55,  56,  58,  69,  78,  103,  108, 
120-123,  126,  131,  151,  184;  law 
relative  to,  45,  46;  care  of,  66,  67, 
68 

Northwest  Territory,  poor  relief  legis- 
lation in,  3-19 ;  first  poor  relief  law 
of,  3,  4;  act  of  1795  of,  4,  5,  8,  9, 
17;  act  of  1799  of,  5;  review  of 
poor  relief  legislation  in,  13-19;  ref- 
erence to,  19,  38,  50,  66,  78,  79, 
88,  120,  140,  150,  337,  338;  au- 
thority of  Governor  and  Judges  of, 
20 

Northwestern  Iowa,  felief  of  victims 
of  grasshopper  scourge  in,  293-295 

Nurses,  admission  of  army,  to  sol- 
diers' home,  282 ;  character  of,  em- 
ployed by  counties,  288 

Nye,   Judge,    353 

Oakdale,  Tuberculosis  Sanitorium  at, 
286 

O'Brien  County,  relief  of  victims  of 
grasshopper  scourge  in,  293-295 

Ohio,  poor  relief  legislation  in  early, 
3-19;  act  of  1805  of,  5,  6;  codi- 
fication of  poor  laws  of,  6 ;  law  of 
1816  of,  7,  8,  9-11;  law  of  1829 
of,  7,  11,  12;  law  of  1831  of,  8, 
12,  13;  law  of  1827  of,  11;  law  of 
1834  of,  13 ;  review  of  poor  relief 
legislation  in,  13-19 ;  influence  of 
laws  of,  19 ;  laws  borrowed  from, 
20,  53,  66,  74;  reference  to,  22, 
25,  35,  38,  40,  41,  43,  50,  76,  77, 
78,  79,  88,  117,  118,  120,  121, 


141,  144,  150,  157,  159,  183,  276, 
337,  338,  339;  comparison  of  laws 
of  Iowa  and,  59-63  ;  lack  of  adapta- 
tion of  law  of,  to  Iowa,  63,  64,  65 ; 
reasons  for  adoption  of  laws  of,  69 

Old  Northwest  (see  Northwest  Terri- 
tory) 

Old  people,  care  of,  321 

Ordinance   of   1787,   20 

Orphan  asylum,  resolution  concerning, 
74 

Orphans,  104;  provisions  for  care  of, 
173,  174,  206-220;  provisions  for 
care  of  soldiers',  197-205;  opening 
of  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home  to  any, 
202 ;  summary  of  State  care  of, 
216,  217;  care  of,  outside  of  insti- 
tutions, 220-230;  adoption  of,  into 
families,  222,  223 ;  summary  of 
methods  of  caring  for,  230-232 ; 
care  of,  in  homes,  320 ;  suggested 
changes  in  system  of  caring  for, 
327,  328;  number  of,  in  institu- 
tions, 368  (See  also  Children) 

Orphans'  homes,  history  of  private,  in 
Iowa,  217-220;  State  control  of 
private,  219,  220,  225 

Osceola  County,  relief  of  victims  of 
grasshopper  scourge  in,  293-295; 
reference  to,  319 

Outdoor  relief,  7,  36,  50,  97,  98,  102; 
act  of  1842  relative  to,  53-56,  59- 
61 ;  rules  relative  to,  108 ;  control 
of,  by  supervisors,  132-134;  func- 
tions of  township  trustees  in,  145- 
150;  administration  of,  by  over- 
seers, 150-156;  provision  for,  in 
cities,  161-164;  history  of,  in  Iowa, 
183-192;  need  of  State  supervision 
of,  189-192,  314,  315,  316;  fea- 
tures of,  with  reference  to  children, 
220-230;  inefficiency  in,  314-316; 
authorities  concerned  with,  324 ; 
variations  in  amounts  expended  for, 
325,  326;  suggestions  relative  to, 
332,  333  (see  also  Out-relief) 

Out-relief,  provision  for,  in  money,  36, 
37;  act  of  1842  relative  to,  53-56, 
59-61 ;  reference  to,  77 ;  authority 


398 


INDEX 


of  supervisors  in,  101 ;  effect  of  un- 
systematic, 112  (see  also  outdoor 
relief) 

Overseers  of  poor,  appointment  of,  3, 
4 ;  powers  and  duties  of,  4,  5,  8,  9, 
14,  15,  54,  55,  56,  105,  150-156; 
reference  to,  6,  12,  21,  22,  25,  27, 
28,  30,  31,  54,  67,  102,  103,  1O4, 
144,  149,  184,  186,  191,  192,  196, 
229,  240,  316,  321,  324,  325,  332; 
compensation  of,  6;  release  of,  from 
duties,  11;  levy  of  taxes  by,  17; 
children  bound  out  by,  18;  removal 
of  non-resident  paupers  by,  30 ; 
provision  for,  in  Iowa,  51,  52 ; 
duties  of,  given  to  trustees,  65 ;  ap- 
pointment of,  in  cities,  101,  105, 
132,  162 ;  review  of  expenditures 
of,  109,  110;  warning  to  depart  is- 
sued by,  121 ;  absence  of,  as  sep- 
arate officials,  151 ;  reappearance 
of,  152;  work  of,  in  cities,  152-156; 
character  of,  153,  154,  315;  care 
of  insane  by,  245 

Parents,  liability  of,  for  support  of 
children,  24,  45,  95 ;  consent  of,  to 
adoption  of  children,  204,  213; 
willingness  of,  to  send  children  to 
Home,  214,  215;  half  of  cost  of 
supporting  children  paid  by,  215; 
expense  of  care  of  child  to  be  borne 
by,  225 ;  law  relative  to  contrib- 
utory dependency  of,  226-228 ; 
change  in  law  relative  to  support 
of  children  by,  228,  229;  support 
of  feeble-minded  children  by,  236, 
237 

Pauperism,  relation  of  immigration  to, 
91 ;  relation  of,  to  other  problems, 
112 

Paupers,  removal  of  non-resident,  5, 
12,  15,  22,  29,  30,  43,  46,  52,  55, 
56,  69,  78,  103,  120-123,  126,  131, 
151,  184;  liability  for  support  of, 
5;  support  of,  by  relatives,  17,  22, 
23,  24,  26,  31,  32,  33,  36,  37,  40, 
41,  43,  45,  47,  48,  50,  67,  77,  81- 
88,  97,  101,  102,  103,  129,  137, 
146,  147,  148,  184,  261,  321; 


method  of  calling  attention  to,  22 ; 
penalties  for  bringing  of,  into  Ter- 
ritory, 22,  31;  contracts  for  care  of, 
23 ;  residence  acquired  by,  in  Mich- 
igan Territory,  24;  fine  for  refusal 
to  receive,  31 ;  procedure  in  case  of 
non-resident,  41 ;  penalty  for  bring- 
ing of,  into  county,  42,  46 ;  care  of 
non-resident,  45,  66,  67,  68,  108; 
resolution  against  bringing  of,  into 
United  States,  89;  labor  required 
of,  105,  108,  109,  148;  apprecia- 
tion of  scientific  treatment  of,  112 ; 
procedure  in  compelling  support  of, 
by  relatives,  129,  130;  provisions 
for  care  of  insane,  240-266;  sep- 
aration of  insane  from,  251  (see 
also  Poor) 

Penal  institutions,  supervision  over, 
recommended,  298,  299;  report  of 
Healy  committee  concerning,  300- 
305 ;  placing  of,  under  Board  of 
Control,  306,  307 

Penitentiaries,  placing  of,  under 
Board  of  Control,  307 

Pennsylvania,  law  adopted  from,  4, 
16,  50,  150,  157,  246,  276,  337, 
338 

Pension    fund,    origin    of,    96 

Pension  money,  restrictions  on  use  of, 
280,  281,  282,  284 

Pensioners,   number  of,   369 

Pensions,    amount  paid   as,   369 

Phillips,   Brannock,   355 

Plymouth   (England),   362 

Politicians,  efforts  of,  in  behalf  of 
soldiers,  96,  97 

Polk  County,  250 

Pomeroy,  relief  of  victims  of  tornado 
at,  295 

Poor,  care  of,  by  contract,  4,  55,  185- 
187;  farming  out  care  of,  5,  8,  13, 
15,  18,  25,  36,  43,  66,  67,  77,  131; 
relief  of,  in  homes,  6,  7,  14,  77, 
154  174,  175,  320,  321;  care  of, 
in  poorhouse,  7;  methods  of  caring 
for,  in  Ohio,  13,  14;  authorities  for 
relief  of,  14,  15 ;  fines  placed  in 
fund  for  support  of,  31;  care  of,  in 
poorhouses  in  Territory  of  Mich- 


INDEX 


399 


igan,  33-36;  methods  of  caring  for, 
in  Michigan  Territory,  36,  37; 
methods  of  caring  for,  in  Wisconsin 
Territory,  42,  43 ;  methods  of  car- 
ing for,  in  Territory  of  Iowa,  49, 
50;  methods  of  caring  for,  in  act  of 
1842,  54,  55;  record  of  expense  of 
caring  for,  56 ;  expenses  of  caring 
for,  65 ;  methods  of  caring  for,  in 
Code  of  1851,  77;  payment  of  cost 
of  support  of,  104 ;  recovery  of  cost 
of  support  of,  107,  108 ;  supervision 

•  over  contractors  for  support  of,  139, 
140;  care  of,  by  contractors,  140, 
141 ;  history  of  outdoor  relief  of, 
183-192;  classification  of,  195;  pro- 
vision for  medical  attendance  for, 
285-288;  variations  in  amount 
spent  for  relief  of,  325,  326  (see 
also  Paupers) 

Poor  farm,  act  relative  to,  in  Lee 
County,  89 ;  receipts  of,  to  be  used 
for  poorhouse,  102 ;  management 
of,  142,  143 ;  use  of  proceeds  from, 
168,  169;  growing  importance  of, 
168,  169;  farmer  for,  329 

Poor  relief,  first  law  relative  to,  in 
Northwest  Territory,  3,  4;  duties 
of  overseers  in,  4,  5 ;  centralization 
in,  6,  7,  12,  78,  110,  111,  112, 
134;  mixed  township  and  county 
system  of,  23,  28 ;  hierarchy  of  au- 
thorities in,  64,  65 ;  retrogression 
in  methods  of,  77;  lack  of  interest 
in,  90,  91 ;  examination  of  claims 
for,  105 ;  control  of,  centered  in 
supervisors,  108,  109 ;  effect  of 
emphasis  on  law  of  settlement  in, 
124,  125 ;  functions  of  county  of- 
ficials in,  126-143 ;  functions  of 
township  officials  in,  144-156;  lines 
of  reform  in,  155,  156;  State  con- 
trol of,  296-316,  324,  325;  need  of 
State  supervision  of,  313-316;  sum- 
mary of  present  system  of,  319- 
326;  agencies  concerned  with,  325; 
need  of  greater  centralization  in, 
325,  326;  suggested  changes  in  sys- 
tem of,  327-334;  number  of  persons 
receiving,  365 


Poor  relief  legislation,  history  of,  in 
Northwest  Territory  and  early 
Ohio,  3-19;  origins  of,  in  Iowa,  3; 
history  of,  in  Michigan  Territory. 
20-38;  history  of,  in  Wisconsin 
Territory,  39-43 ;  history  of,  in 
Territory  of  Iowa,  44-70 ;  history 
of,  in  Iowa  from  1846  to  1914,  71- 
113  ;  features  of,  from  1846  to  1851, 
73-75 ;  features  of,  in  Code  of 
1851,  76-88;  features  of,  from  1851 
to  1860,  88-91;  features  of,  in  Re- 
vision of  1860,  91,  92 ;  features  of, 
from  1860  to  1873,  92-99;  features 
of,  in  Code  of  1873,  99-104;  fea- 
tures of,  from  1873  to  1897,  104- 
106;  features  of,  in  Code  of  1897, 
106-110;  features  of,  since  1897, 
110-113;  special  phases  of,  115- 
192;  provisions  of,  relative  to  poor- 
houses,  157-182 

Poorhouses,  law  for  care  of  poor  in, 
7 ;  failure  of  plan  to  care  for  all 
poor  in,  8 ;  absence  of  provision 
for,  in  Ohio,  8 ;  provisions  for,  in 
Ohio  law  of  1816,  9-11;  binding 
out  of  children  in,  11,  221 ;  ex- 
penses of  bringing  paupers  to,  12 ; 
relief  by  means  of,  13,  18 ;  care  of 
non-resident  poor  in,  13 ;  discharge 
from,  17,  58,  59,  69,  170-172; 
management  of,  18,  131,  132,  136- 
138,  141-143,  164-169;  building  of, 
by  townships,  25 ;  Michigan  law 
relative  to,  25,  26,  33-36;  first 
Iowa  law  relative  to,  46,  52 ;  law 
of  1842  relative  to,  56-59,  61-63; 
funds  for  erection  of,  56,  57;  ad- 
mission to,  57,  69,  145,  146,  147, 
169,  170;  inspection  of,  58,  65,  68; 
expenses  of  maintaining,  58,  59, 
104;  analysis  of  early  laws  relative 
to,  68,  69 ;  acts  relative  to,  in  Lee 
and  Des  Moines  Counties,  73,  74; 
attitude  toward,  89,  90 ;  character 
of,  90 ;  relief  of  paupers  outside  of, 
98 ;  receipts  of  poor  farm  to  be 
used  for,  102;  tuition  for  educa- 
tion of  children  in,  105 ;  discre- 
tionary power  of  sending  persons 


400 


INDEX 


to,  108;  change  of  name  of,  111; 
authority  of  county  judges  in  erec- 
tion of,  127,  128;  contracts  for 
building  of,  131 ;  history  of  legis- 
lation relative  to,  157-182 ;  keeping 
of  children  in,  172-174,  209-217, 
322 ;  relief  by,  as  only  method, 
174-176;  support  of,  176-178;  cen- 
tralized control  of,  178-182 ;  evil 
conditions  in,  178,  179,  246,  247, 
251-254;  examination  of,  180;  agi- 
tation for  State  supervision  of, 
180,  181;  absence  of,  in  early 
Iowa,  183 ;  reference  to,  185,  186, 
187,  299;  support  of  soldiers'  or- 
phans in,  203 ;  advantages  of  or- 
phan's home  over,  206;  care  of 
idiots  in,  233  ;  keeping  of  insane  in, 
241,  242,  245,  246,  248,  251,  256, 
323 ;  beginning  of  agitation  against 
care  of  insane  in,  245;  investiga- 
tion of  conditions  in,  249,  250 ; 
separation  of  insane  from  paupers 
in,  251 ;  supervision  of  insane  in, 
by  Board  of  Control,  255,  259-261, 
308,  312,  313,  316;  reaction 
against  abuses  in  care  of  insane  in, 
255-261 ;  contrast  between  asylums 
and,  265,  266;  care  of  epileptics 
in,  275,  276;  families  of  soldiers 
not  to  be  sent  to,  278 ;  medical  at- 
tendance in,  285;  vagrants  in,  291; 
supervision  over,  recommended, 
297,  298,  299,  300;  resolution  pro- 
viding for  investigation  of,  305, 
306;  need  of  State  supervision  of, 
313,  314,  316;  character  of  author- 
ities of,  313,  314;  number  of,  in 
Iowa,  319;  summary  of  present 
system  of,  319,  320;  number  of  in- 
mates of,  319,  320;  number  of  de- 
fectives in,  320;  sending  of  feeble- 
minded to,  322 ;  keeping  of  blind 
in,  323;  epileptics  in,  323,  324; 
need  of  prohibiting  keeping  of  chil- 
dren in,  328 ;  suggested  changes  in 
relation  to,  329-331 ;  suggestions 
relative  to  State  supervision  over, 
331 
Porter,  Mr.,  53 


Porter,   Claude  R.,   305 
Pottawattamie    County,    legalizing    act 

relative    to,    89 ;    trouble    in,    over 

poorhouse,    352,    353 
Poverty,    laws    aimed    at    removal    of 

causes  of,   110,  113;  relation  of,  to 

other    problems,     112;     problem    of 

relief  of,  112 
Poweshiek  County,   99 
Primary  relief  authorities,  14,  15,  21, 

22,    27,    28,    50,    67,    77 
Private   institutions,    care   of   children 

in,    217-220 
Probate  judge,   242 
Prostitutes,   290 

Ranney,  Mark,  report  of,  244-246, 
379,  380 

Reform  Schools,  State,  support  of  or- 
phans in,  203,  211,  212 

Reformatory  institutions,  placing  of, 
under  Board  of  Control,  306,  307 

Relatives,  support  of  paupers  by,  17, 
22,  23,  24,  26,  31,  32,  33,  36,  37, 
40,  41,  43,  45,  47,  48,  50,  67,  77, 
81-88,  97,  101,  102,  103,  129,  137, 
146,  147,  148,  184,  261,  321;  pro- 
cedure in  compelling  relief  by,  129, 
130;  support  of  insane  persons  by, 
240 ;  consent  of,  to  removal  of  in- 
sane, 260,  311;  relief  of,  from  sup- 
port of  old  soldiers,  283,  284;  re- 
sponsibility of,  for  support  of  tuber- 
culosis patients,  287 

Residence    (see    Settlement) 

Revision  of  1860,  75,  80,  99,  100, 
101,  138,  141,  145,  147,  151,  171, 
175,  196,  233,  240;  provisions  of, 
relative  to  poor  relief,  91,  92 ;  pro- 
visions of,  relative  to  poorhouses, 
160,  172;  provisions  of,  relative 
to  binding  out  children,  221 ;  pro- 
visions of,  relative  to  insane,  243, 
244;  provisions  of,  relative  to 
vagrants,  290 

Reynolds,  A.,  report  of,  234,  235 

Rhode  Island,   304 

Rich,  Joseph  W.,  investigation  made 
by,  249,  250 

Road  taxes,  29 


INDEX 


401 


Sailors,  provisions  for  care  of  fam- 
ilies of,  176,  320;  admission  of  or- 
phans of,  to  Home,  204;  provi- 
sions for  care  of  dependent,  278- 
284;  funeral  expenses  of,  278; 
funeral  expenses  of  wives  of,  279 ; 
parents  of,  admitted  to  Home,  281, 
282 ;  reference  to,  324 

School  districts,  tuition  for  education 
of  paupers  paid  to,  105 

School  fund,   95 

Scott  County,  legalizing  act  relative 
to,  89;  reference  to,  178,  179,  251 

Secondary  relief  authorities,  14,  15, 
22,  27,  28 

Servants,  legal  settlement  of,  16,  54, 
58,  67,  119,  120 

Settlement,  legal,  law  relative  to,  5, 
6,  15,  24,  29,  30,  42,  59,  60,  66, 
67,  78,  184;  period  required  to 
gain,  7,  8,  108,  109 ;  blacks  and 
mulattoes  prohibited  from  gaining, 
8,  53,  54,  61 ;  changes  in  law  of, 
in  Ohio,  16;  introduction  of  terms 
of,  22 ;  change  in  law  of,  22 ;  pro- 
visions of  law  of  1842  relative  to, 
54 ;  simplification  of  law  of,  103 ; 
historical  account  of  law  of,  117- 
125 ;  changes  of  emphasis  in  law 
of,  123,  124;  unfortunate  features 
of  law  of,  124,  125 ;  application  of 
law  of,  in  case  of  insane,  262,  263, 
164  (see  also  Non-resident  paupers) 

Shambaugh,  Benj.  F.,  editor's  introduc- 
tion by,  vii;  acknowledgment  to,  x 

Sherman,  Buren  B.,  recommendations 
of,  174,  211,  257,  279 

Sheriff,  contracts  let  by,  22,  27;  ref- 
erence to,  23,  103,  262,  290;  care 
of  insane  paupers  by,  37,  242 ; 
functions  of,  in  poor  relief,  138, 
139,  146 

Sick,  care  of,  12,  43,  46,  50,  51,  59, 
285-288,  321,  324 

Sioux  County,  relief  of  victims  of 
grasshopper  scourge  in,  293-295 

Sisters,  liability  of,  for  support  of 
relatives,  24,  95 ;  omission  of,  from 
list  of  relatives  liable,  45 


Slaves,  removal  of,  23,  30;  settlement 
denied  to,  29 

Social  legislation,  growth  of,   110 

Soldiers,  exemption  of,  from  laws  rel- 
ative to  paupers,  92 ;  payment  of, 
by  State,  93;  legislation  relative  to 
care  of  families  of,  93-99,  104,  175, 
176,  187,  188,  189,  278-284,  312, 
320;  enumeration  of,  95;  effect  of 
legislation  concerning  support  of 
families  of,  96,  97 ;  reference  to, 
103,  132,  195,  324;  provisions  for 
care  of  orphans  of,  197-205 ;  sec- 
ond families  of,  203 ;  provisions 
for  care  of  dependent,  278-284; 
funeral  expenses  of,  278 ;  funeral 
expenses  of  wives  of,  279 ;  parents 
of,  admitted  to  Home,  281,  282; 
number  of  orphans  of,  368 

Soldiers'   county  orphan  fund,    198 

Soldiers'  Home,  173,  188,  262,  324; 
establishment  of,  279 ;  legislation 
relative  to,  279-284;  effect  of,  on 
inmates,  283,  284;  placing  of,  un- 
der Board  of  Control,  306;  admis- 
sion to,  311 

Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home,  173,  188, 
222,  223,  267,  324,  327,  328; 
history  of,  197-217;  first  president 
of,  198 ;  control  of,  assumed  by 
State,  198;  opening  of,  to  all  or- 
phans, 202 ;  placing  of,  under 
Board  of  Control,  203,  306;  part  of 
cost  of  support  of  orphans  in,  paid 
by  State,  214-216;  attitude  of  par- 
ents and  officials  toward,  214,  215; 
summary  of  history  of,  216,  217; 
State  agents  for,  309 ;  sending  of 
children  to,  322 

Soldiers'  orphans'  homes,  establish- 
ment of,  in  Iowa,  198 ;  adoption 
of  children  from,  199,  200;  educa- 
tion of  children  in,  200,  201 ;  con- 
solidation of,  201,  202 

Soldiers'    relief    commission,    279 

Soldiers'  relief  fund,  95,  188,  189, 
278,  279;  character  of,  97 

South   Dakota,    304 

Spanish-American  War,   283 


402 


INDEX 


Special  charter  cities,  overseers  of 
poor  in,  105 

Special   legislation,    71,    72 

Spy,  functions  of,  139,  140;  provi- 
sion for,  186 

State,  agitation  for  supervision  of 
poorhouses  by,  180,  181;  need  of 
supervision  of  outdoor  relief  by, 
189-192,  314,  315,  316;  recom- 
mendation of  support  of  orphans 
at  expense  of,  211;  part  of  cost  of 
support  of  orphans  paid  by,  214, 
215,  216;  summary  of  care  of  nor- 
mal children  by,  216,  217;  advan- 
tages of  care  of  insane  by,  265  ;  ef- 
fect of  control  of  care  of  depend- 
ents by,  265,  266;  care  of  deaf  and 
dumb  by,  266-269;  care  of  blind 
by,  269-271;  care  of  inebriates  by, 
272-275;  care  of  epileptics  by,  272- 
275 ;  care  of  soldiers,  sailors,  and 
marines  by,  278-284;  care  of  sick 
by,  285-288 ;  relief  of  victims  of 
calamity  by,  293-295 ;  control  of 
poor  relief  by,  296-316,  324,  325; 
need  of  supervision  of  poorhouses 
by,  313,  314,  316;  suggestions  rel- 
ative to  supervision  by,  331-334; 
suggestions  relative  to  care  of  in- 
sane by,  333,  334 

State  Auditor,  294,  295 

State  institutions,  investigation  of 
management  of  300-305 ;  ineffi- 
ciency in  management  of,  by  sep- 
arate boards,  303,  304;  placing  of, 
under  Board  of  Control,  306,  307 

States,  adoption  of  laws  from  orig- 
inal, 20 

Steward  of  poor  farm,  325 

Steward  of  poorhouse,  creation  of 
position  of,  78 ;  powers  and  duties 
of,  141,  142,  143,  166-169;  charac- 
ter of,  142,  143;  reference  to,  165; 
change  in  functions  of,  168,  169; 
average  salary  of,  320;  suggestions 
relative  to,  329  (see  also  Superin- 
tendent of  poorhouse) 

Stone,    John    Y.,    355 

Story  County,   99 

Streets,  labor  of  paupers  on,  109,  148 


Superintendent  of  poorhouse,  appoint- 
ment of,  10;  duties  of,  10;  admis- 
sion to  poorhouse  by,  12,  13 ;  ref- 
erence to,  15,  17,  18,  64,  68,  165, 
170,  171 ;  powers  and  duties  of,  57, 
141,  142,  158,  166-169;  change  of 
name  of,  78  (see  also  Steward) 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction, 
names  of  defectives  reported  to, 
271 

Superior  courts,  jurisdiction  of,  as 
juvenile  court,  228 

Supervisors,  County  Board  of,  23,  25, 
27,  28,  36,  102,  103,  104,  105, 
130,  131,  145,  146,  147,  153,  156, 
160,  161,  196,  212,  214,  229,  234, 
302,  310,  311,  316,  323,  324,  333; 
county  judge  superseded  by,  91,  92; 
power  of,  to  raise  funds  for  sup- 
port of  soldiers'  families,  93-96, 
98;  power  taken  from,  97;  taxes 
levied  by,  104,  111,  177,  198,  199, 
258 ;  claims  for  poor  relief  exam- 
ined by,  105,  149 ;  acts  of,  legal- 
ized, 106;  rules  relative  to  out- 
door relief  made  by,  108 ;  control 
of  poor  relief  centered  in,  108, 
109,  110;  review  of  expenditures 
by,  109,  110;  order  for  removal 
issued  by,  122 ;  powers  of  county 
judge  given  to,  129 ;  functions  of, 
in  poor  relief,  131-134,  325;  pow- 
ers of  directors  given  to,  138;  ad- 
mission to  poorhouse  by,  170;  out- 
door relief  by,  187,  188;  care  of 
soldiers'  orphans  determined  by, 
208,  209,  210,  211;  children 
bound  out  by,  221 ;  certificate  of, 
necessary  to  admission  to  soldiers' 
home,  281 ;  working  of  vagrants  by, 
290;  control  of  poorhouses  by,  319, 
320 

Supplies,  restrictions  relative  to  pur- 
chase of,  102,  108,  147,  148;  con- 
tract for  furnishing  of,  109 ;  lack 
of  uniformity  in  purchase  of,  301 ; 
purchasing  of,  310 

Supreme  Court  of  Michigan  Territory, 
30 

Swamp  land  funds,  89,  94,  352 


INDEX 


403 


Switzerland,  farm  colony  for  vagrants 
in,  292 

Taxes,  levy  of,  for  care  of  poor,  4,  6, 
7,  9,  14,  17,  29,  31,  32,  59,  104, 
105,  106,  111,  176-178,  190,  191; 
levy  of,  for  poorhouses,  9,  68,  69 : 
levy  of,  for  support  of  soldiers' 
families,  94,  95.  96,  188,  189,  278, 
279;  levy  of,  for  soldiers'  orphans, 
198,  199 ;  levy  of,  for  care  of  in- 
sane, 258;  levy  of,  for  State  insti- 
tutions, 303 

Temporary  relief,  42,  55,  66 
Thread,  work  of  poor  on,  4,  9 
Township  clerk,  28,  54,  121 
Township  treasurer,  24,  25,  28 
Township  trustees,  powers  given  to,  6, 
7;  reference  to,  10,  11,  12,  51,  57, 
65,  67,  81,  82,  84,  86,  122,  126, 
127,  128,  129,  130,  131,  132,  136, 
137,  152,  153,  159,  165,  166,  184, 
192,  321,  324,  325;  powers  and 
duties  of,  14,  15,  54,  56,  77,  78, 
98,  101,  102;  levy  of  taxes  by,  17; 
duties  of  overseers  given  to,  65, 
151 ;  review  of  expenditures  of  109, 
110;  warning  to  depart  issued  by, 
121 ;  order  for  removal  issued  by, 
122;  approval  of  bills  of,  131; 
supervision  over  outdoor  relief  giv- 
en by,  132-134;  functions  of,  in 
poor  relief,  144-150;  decreasing 
importance  of,  in  poor  relief,  149, 
150;  admission  to  poorhouse  by, 
169.  170 

Townships,  creation  of,  3,  72 ;  re- 
moval of  paupers  from,  5 ;  incor- 
poration of,  5 ;  warning  to  depart 
from,  6 ;  poorhouses  in,  7,  25 ;  fail- 
ure of,  to  build  poorhouses,  8 ;  pro- 
vision of  Ohio  law  relative  to  poor- 
houses in,  10,  11 ;  repeal  of  pro- 
vision for  poorhouses  in,  12,  26; 
levy  of  taxes  by,  17 ;  making  of, 
units  of  relief,  23,  28,  29,  67; 
share  of,  in  cost  of  maintaining 
poorhouse,  26;  making  of,  units  of 
settlement,  117 ;  functions  of  offi- 
cials of,  in  poor  relief,  144-156 


Tramp,  definition  of,  291 ;  presence 
of,  in  poorhouse,  291 

Treaty  of  London,   24 

Trusdell,    Mr.,    354 

Trustees,   powers   and   duties   of,    105 

Tuberculosis,  care  of  persons  affected 
with,  285-288;  advantages  of  dis- 
trict plan,  in  care  of,  330,  331 

Tuberculosis  Sanitorium,  State,  estab- 
lishment of,  286;  department  for 
advanced  cases  at,  286,  287,  288 

Tufts,   Mr.,   206 

Unit  of  relief,  21,  22,  23,  27,  28,  29, 

42,    67,    117 
United      States,      resolution      against 

bringing  paupers  to,  89 

Vagrants,  legislation  relative  to,  289- 
292;  farm  colonies  for,  292 

Vasectomy,  provision  for,   238,  276 

Venue,    change    of,    78 

Vermont,    22,    29 

Vice,  112 

Villages,    incorporation    of,    72 

Vinton,  323 

Virginia,   county   court  system   of,    79 

Visiting  Committee,  investigation  by, 
178-180,  248,  249;  suggestion  of 
enlargement  of  powers  of,  180,  181, 
299,  300;  report  of,  235,  246,  247, 
256;  law  establishing,  296;  recom- 
mendations of,  297;  reference  to, 
299,  303 

Volunteers,  bounties  to,  94 

Wapello    County,     106 

Warning  to  depart,  16,  43,  46,  52,  54, 
66,  78,  121,  122,  126,  131,  145 

Wayne  County  (Michigan),  law  rel- 
ative to  poorhouse  in,  33-35,  344 

Widows,  abandonment  of  dependents 
by,  32 ;  relief  of  soldiers',  197 

Widows'  pensions,  188,  189,  229,  230 

Wife,  responsibility  of,  for  support 
of  children,  95,  101 ;  responsibility 
of,  for  education  of  children,  229 

Wilson,  George  M.,  bill  introduced  by, 
296,  297 

Wilson,   Thomas   S.,    354 


404 


INDEX 


Wisconsin,  263,  266,  304 

Wisconsin,  Territory  of,  3,  9,  20,  50, 
51,  63,  64,  66,  69,  70,  72,  79,  117, 
120,  121,  140,  150,  159,  196,  337, 
338,  345 ;  poor  relief  legislation  in, 
39-43;  act  of,  adopted  in  Iowa,  44; 
comparison  of  laws  of  Iowa  and, 
47-50 ;  acts  of,  repealed,  52 


Women,  condition  of  insane,  in  poor- 
houses,  251-253 

Woodward,  William  G.,  75 

Worcester    (England),    362 

Work  test,   291 

Workhouses,    9,    46,    330,    362 

Workmen's  compensation  act,  112, 
113 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


JUN  4 


Form  L-9-15m-7,'31 


HV98 

I8G4          Gillln- 

ni story  or  poor 
relief   legislation 
in   Iowa. 


A    000801  069    6 


HV9Z 


LOS  ANGELES 
LIBRARY 


